On the 29th (local time) in Minsk, Belarus, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui met with Belarusian Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maksim Ryzhenkov and formed a consensus on developing bilateral relations.
According to a communiqué released on the 31st by the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea and Belarus discussed "developing in various fields, in a way that suits the common interests of the peoples of the two countries, the Korea (North Korea)-Belarus relationship, which has a long tradition and history of friendship, on the basis of the principles of respect for sovereignty, equality, and mutual benefit."
It added that they "discussed strengthening efforts to safeguard common interests on the international stage" and "reached a concurrence of views."
The foreign ministers' talks between North Korea and Belarus came about 1 year and 3 months after they were arranged during Minister Ryzhenkov's visit to North Korea in July last year. Belarus is one of the very few countries that absolutely supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine along with North Korea. The two have been rapidly closing ranks recently.
The talks may have discussed Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko's visit to North Korea. Earlier, on the 3rd of last month in Beijing, China, Kim Jong-un, chairman of North Korea's State Affairs Commission, personally asked President Lukashenko to visit North Korea at the military parade marking the "80th anniversary of China's victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan."
On the same day, the Korean Central News Agency also reported the contents of a speech delivered by the foreign minister Choe at the "3rd International Eurasian Security Conference" held in Belarus on the 28th and 29th.
Choe said, "In the eastern part of the Eurasian region, the Japan-U.S.-South Korea three-way military alliance system led by the United States has entered full operation, posing a grave threat to the region's security environment."
Furthermore, Choe argued that "in recent years, various bilateral and multilateral war exercises against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have proceeded simultaneously without temporal or spatial gaps, and with scenarios that include actual use of nuclear weapons, creating an unprecedented war crisis."
Choe added, "Going forward, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will not stand still for a moment or concede even a shred on the path of strengthening its self-defensive national defense capabilities to safeguard the dignity of the state, the right to development, and security interests, and to protect peace in the region and the world."
After attending the conference, Foreign Minister Choe paid her respects at the Victory in the Great Patriotic War Monument in Minsk, which honors the victims of World War II.