Analysts say North Korea is broadening its external strategy around Russia: it has moved toward a formal military alignment with Moscow while building a friendship and cooperation relationship with Belarus.
President Alexander Lukashenko’s March 25–26 visit to Pyongyang helped formalize cooperation frameworks between the two capitals. Security and economic analysts warned those frameworks could enable networks for moving goods and services that would help sidestep international sanctions.
North Korea–Russia Alliance is Complementary; Belarus Could Serve as a Backchannel
Rodong Sinmun reported on March 27 that Kim Jong Un met with Lukashenko and that the two signed a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Belarus. The state paper said the sides also signed agreements covering diplomacy, information, agriculture, education and health.
Outside experts say the new treaty focuses on economic, logistics and diplomatic ties rather than on establishing formal military commitments.
By contrast, the comprehensive strategic partnership North Korea signed with Russia last year carried quasi‑alliance features, including provisions that could be read as permitting mutual military support. The Belarus agreement appears aimed at shoring up supply channels and trade routes that have been degraded under sanctions, analysts say.
Because Belarus’s industrial and logistics systems remain closely connected to Russia’s, North Korea could use Belarus as an alternative route or buffer for moving sanctioned items, the analysts add.
Im Eul‑chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Gyeongnam National University, said Belarus could be a window through which North Korea secures European technologies and resources via Russia. He noted that cooperation on machinery, agriculture and healthcare matches a number of North Korea’s concrete needs.
Observers also pointed to the composition of delegations at the talks as a sign that both governments intend to expand practical exchanges. North Korea’s delegation included Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, Party Secretary Kim Song-nam and First Vice Premier Kim Tok-hun. Belarus was represented by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Shuleiko and several cabinet ministers.
Eurasian Charter Plan…Trend Toward Expanded Multilateral Cooperation
Closer ties between Pyongyang and Minsk also align with broader multilateral cooperation initiatives among several authoritarian states. In February, Belarus’s state news agency said consultations had begun on an Eurasian Charter that would include Russia, North Korea, Iran, Belarus and Myanmar.
Analysts interpret the Eurasian Charter as an effort to promote a multipolar order and to counter Western‑led institutions.
Du Jin‑ho, director of the Eurasia Research Center at the Korea Institute for National Strategy, said Russia, Belarus and North Korea appear to be coordinating within the larger Eurasian Charter framework. He added that strengthening ties between Pyongyang and Minsk fits that pattern.
Im echoed that view, saying the new treaty signals an expansion of the existing North Korea–Russia relationship into a trilateral North–Russia–Belarus bloc. The two closely aligned states joining forces, he said, creates a bloc that can exert pressure on Western governments.
The Minsk International Security Conference—spearheaded by Belarus—also reflects this dynamic. Analysts say the forum is positioned to complement or substitute for Russia’s Moscow International Security Conference and to bolster state‑level solidarity against Western sanctions.
Financial restrictions are another driver of deeper cooperation. Both North Korea and Belarus face limits on access to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) payment system, which hampers dollar‑based transactions. Observers say the two governments may test alternative mechanisms—barter, third‑country currency settlements or other workarounds—to keep critical imports and exports moving.
If those alternative arrangements mature into sustained trading practices or broader multilateral cooperation, they could complicate the current sanctions regime targeting North Korea.