North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, clinks glasses with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Pyongyang on March 26 in a photo carried by the regime-controlled Korean Central News Agency.YONHAP
Belarus, a close ally of Russia, has opened its first embassy in North Korea and begun official operations.
The move comes as Belarus expands ties with North Korea following President Alexander Lukashenko's visit to the North Korean capital in March. The two countries are also reportedly pursuing visa-free travel for their nationals and trilateral cooperation with Russia.
The Belarusian foreign ministry has newly established embassies in Pyongyang and Naypyidaw, Myanmar, according to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency. The openings followed agreements President Lukashenko reached during talks with the leaders of both countries.
“The opening of two new embassies is the result of Belarus' targeted policy to strengthen its presence in the ‘far arc’ countries,” the Belarusian foreign ministry said in a statement released on Friday. “Far arc” refers to countries geographically distant from Belarus.
The Belarusian foreign ministry noted that its mission in Pyongyang is aimed at "further developing mutually beneficial relations with the DPRK," referring to an abbreviation for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the country's official name.
Lukashenko made the first official visit by a Belarusian president to North Korea on March 25 and 26, during which he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The two countries signed a friendship and cooperation treaty and roughly 10 other agreements and memorandums of understanding across sectors such as education, health care, agriculture, culture, sports and information. After returning home, Lukashenko instructed officials to fast-track the opening of an embassy in Pyongyang and to reach an agreement on visa-free travel.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, holds hands with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Pyongyang on March 25 in a photo carried by the regime-controlled Korean Central News Agency.YONHAP
Pyongyang established an embassy in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, in 2016, but Minsk never reciprocated with a diplomatic mission in Pyongyang. This year in April, North Korea dispatched Ji Kyong-su, a former vice minister of external economic relations, to fill its long-vacant ambassadorial post in Belarus.
Belarus had hoped to establish its embassy in Pyongyang by August, but administrative delays derailed that timetable. During a visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly last month, Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov discussed the embassy opening and visa-free travel with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son-gyong.
Belarus is also pushing for closer three-way cooperation with North Korea and Russia. Belarusian Minister Ryzhenkov, who accompanied Lukashenko to Pyongyang in March, said the government was actively considering ways to deepen ties among the three countries. "Every route from Belarus to North Korea runs through Russian territory," he said.
Russia and Belarus are bound by the "Union State," a formal alliance between the two countries. Minsk backed the Kremlin's 2022 invasion of Kyiv and has recently shipped substantial quantities of gasoline to Moscow to help ease its fuel shortages. Pyongyang and Moscow, meanwhile, have deepened economic, military, diplomatic and cultural ties since signing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty in 2024.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
