2024-07-24 03:36:28
Welcome banquet held for the Belarusian Foreign Minister on the evening of the 23rd
Possibility of Discussing Trilateral Cooperation Including Russia Beyond Bilateral Cooperation
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui announced at a banquet welcoming the visiting Belarusian Foreign Minister that she would comprehensively develop relations between the two countries.
On the 24th, the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North Korean Workers’ Party, reported that “At the invitation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) Foreign Minister Maksim Rajimirovich Lysunkov of the Republic of Belarus arrived in Pyongyang on the 23rd for an official visit to our country.”
Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jong Gyu and other officials welcomed Minister Maxim Ryzenkov and his delegation.
In the evening, a banquet was held at the Koryo Hotel in Pyongyang to welcome Minister Ryzenkov. Foreign Minister Choe and other senior officials attended.
The newspaper reported that Foreign Minister Choi “warmly welcomed Foreign Minister Maksim Vladimirovich Lysunkov and his party who visited Pyongyang with the mission of raising relations between the two countries to a new level.”
Foreign Minister Choe said, “It is the firm position of the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to open a new era in the development of bilateral relations by comprehensively expanding and strengthening relations with the Republic of Belarus, which pursue common ideals and goals.”
Minister Ryzenkov said, “I visited Pyongyang with the intention of further strengthening the long-standing friendly relations between Belarus and North Korea.”
He also expressed his position to “deeply develop the relationship between the two countries, which (Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un) are paying deep attention to, based on mutual trust, respect, and understanding.”
This visit to North Korea may have discussed ways to strengthen cooperation between North Korea and Belarus as well as trilateral cooperation including Russia.
President Lukashenko proposed trilateral cooperation among North Korea, Russia, and Belarus during a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last year.
Recently, North Korea and Belarus have been actively pursuing high-level exchanges, including a visit to North Korea by Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Shestakov in April.
Belarus is a country that is evaluated as the ‘North Korea of Europe’. President Lukashenko, who has been in power for 30 years, is called ‘Europe’s last dictator’ and is criticized by the international community for human rights violations.
It is also a representative pro-Russian country that openly supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The two countries signed the Treaty on the Establishment of a Union State in 1999 and have been promoting national integration plans.
Belarus and North Korea established diplomatic relations in 1992, the year after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The North Korean embassy in Belarus opened in 2016, and Ambassador Joo Jung-bong took office three years later in April 2019.
Meanwhile, North Korea announced that Minister Ryzenkov will stay in North Korea until the 26th, so it appears that Foreign Minister Choi and Minister Ryzenkov will hold a bilateral meeting.
Accordingly, there is analysis that the possibility of Foreign Minister Choi attending the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to be held in Laos on the 27th has decreased.
[서울=뉴시스]
-
- great
- 0dog
-
- I’m so sad
- 0dog
-
- I’m angry
- 0dog
-
- I recommend it
- dog
Hot news right now
2024-07-24 03:36:28