North Korea appears reluctant to engage in full-scale diplomatic relations with its allies Belarus and Russia. While Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party, recently participated in the 80th anniversary of China’s Victory Day—marking his first foray into multilateral diplomacy since taking power—he nonetheless seems selective about his diplomatic partners.
On Thursday, the official newspaper of the Workers’ Party, Rodong Sinmun, published the full text of a congratulatory message sent by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on the occasion of North Korea’s 77th founding anniversary (Tuesday).
In his message, President Lukashenko warmly recalled their recent meeting in Beijing, stating that he hopes that the cooperation between Belarus and North Korea and our joint efforts in international organizations will benefit the peoples of both countries and foster trust and mutual understanding.
However, the congratulatory message released by Belarus on Tuesday included a statement confirming that both sides are ready to visit North Korea at the earliest convenience to elevate their relationship to a qualitatively new level. It appears that North Korea opted to omit this detail in its own publication.
North Korea maintains diplomatic relations with Belarus, a prominent pro-Russian state. As relations between North Korea and Russia have rapidly advanced amid the Ukraine war, it seemed that North Korea and Belarus were also growing closer.
Nevertheless, there appears to be a significant difference in perspective regarding President Lukashenko’s potential visit to North Korea.
In January, when reports emerged that North Korea had proposed high-level talks with Belarus, Kim Yo Jong, sister of Kim and Deputy Director of the Workers’ Party for External Affairs, expressed her displeasure. She stated that at least to her knowledge, no such proposal was made, adding that honesty should be the starting point in bilateral relations between countries.
Despite this, a week after Kim Yo Jong’s remarks, President Lukashenko announced his plans to visit North Korea soon to discuss expanding trade between the two countries. Furthermore, on September 3, the Belarusian presidential office revealed via the Telegram channel Full Report that General Secretary Kim had officially invited President Lukashenko to North Korea ahead of the military parade commemorating China’s Victory Day.