Kim Jong-un welcomed Alexander Lukashenko with lavish ceremony, including artillery salute and goose-stepping soldiers before a large flag-waving crowd
North Korea and Belarus’s strongmen leaders signed a “friendship and cooperation” treaty on Thursday, state media reported, after Kim Jong-un “warmly” welcomed president Alexander Lukashenko to Pyongyang for a maiden visit.
Besides supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine – about 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 wellbeing of their citizens,” he said.
