Star Metro - North Korea, Belarus sign 'friendship and cooperation' treaty

Besides supporting Russia's war against Ukraine -- around 2,000 North Korean soldiers are thought to have been killed -- both nations are subject to Western sanctions and are accused of gross human rights violations.

"The friendly relations between our states, born during the era of the Soviet Union, have never been interrupted. Today, thanks to comprehensive and steady development, we are entering a fundamentally new phase," Belarusian state news agency BelTA quoted Lukashenko as saying.

"In the modern realities of global transformation -- at a time when the world's major powers openly ignore and violate the norms of international law -- independent countries must cooperate more closely and consolidate their efforts aimed at protecting their sovereignty and improving the well-being of their citizens," he said.

Earlier Belta showed Kim and Lukashenko hugging at a lavish welcome programme on Wednesday involving an artillery salute and goose-stepping soldiers before a large flag-waving crowd at Kim Il Sung Square.

Kim "gladly" met and "warmly" welcomed Lukashenko at the start of the two-day visit, the Korean Central News Agency reported, which followed a meeting last year in Beijing.

Lukashenko visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun -- where Kim's embalmed father and grandfather lie in state -- to pay his respects, flanked by top North Korean officials, the report said.

Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994 and has swung firmly behind Moscow since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022, laid a bouquet on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

- Multipolar -

Belarus and North Korea are part of a push driven by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin to create what they call a "multipolar world" to break Western hegemony.

They have provided Moscow assistance in its Ukraine war, with Minsk serving as a launchpad for the invasion and Moscow stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have estimated that the North has sent thousands of soldiers to Russia, primarily to the Kursk region, along with artillery shells, missiles and rocket systems.

Russia and North Korea signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2024 that obliges either side to provide "military and other assistance" should the other be attacked.

Analysts say North Korea is receiving financial aid, military technology, food and energy supplies from Russia, helping Pyongyang reduce its reliance on its long-time backer China.

US President Donald Trump has sought to build ties with Belarus in his second term, easing sanctions and welcoming it to his "Board of Peace".

Trump met Kim three times in his first term, and there has been speculation of a re-run when the US president makes his visit -- delayed by the Iran war -- to China on May 14-15.

- NK-cosmetics -

Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov said that in addition to the treaty of friendship and cooperation, the two sides would agree to cooperate in an array of fields from agriculture to information.

"Our greatest interest... is strengthening truly friendly, partnership relations. We have friends here, and they are waiting for us. Just as we await them in Belarus," he told state news agency BelTA.

Trade between the two countries is "modest", but areas for growth include Belarus exporting pharmaceutical products and food to North Korea, Ryzhenkov said.

"Meanwhile, various cosmetic products, which are renowned for their quality and affordable prices, can be imported from the DPRK," he added, using the initials of the North's official name.

The visit is intended to "show solidarity" among nations opposed to the Western order, Lee Ho-ryung of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses told AFP.

"Kim will try to use the occasion to raise its diplomatic profile and strengthen solidarity among the so-called anti-Western bloc," she said.

T.Murray--SMC