Belarus leader orders opening of embassy in N. Korea following summit with Kim: report

▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R) exchanges documents on a treaty on friendship and cooperation with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during their summit in Pyongyang on March 26, 2026. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

N Korea-Belarus-diplomacy

Belarus leader orders opening of embassy in N. Korea following summit with Kim: report

SEOUL, March 29 (Yonhap) -- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has instructed officials to open an embassy in North Korea following his summit with the North's leader Kim Jong-un, according to a news report Sunday.

Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov shared the details with reporters after Lukashenko's two-day official visit to Pyongyang earlier this week, its state media Belta reported Friday.

"The president set very concrete tasks -- to open our embassy here (in Pyongyang) ... to accelerate work on the visa waiver agreement and more broadly, to review the full range of matters that we can advance in the very near future," the media outlet quoted the top diplomat as saying.

North Korea already runs its embassy in Minsk.

Ryzhenkov also told reporters that the two sides discussed cooperation in areas including health care, education and agriculture, the news outlet said.

The two sides exchanged views on international issues, including the situations in the Middle East and Russia's war against Ukraine, saying the leaders found they share "a lot in common," the news outlet said.

The foreign minister added that Lukashenko invited Kim to Belarus.

At the summit, Lukashenko and Kim signed a treaty on friendship and cooperation, hailing that their ties have entered a new phase of development.

It marked the first visit to the North by a leader of Belarus, an ally of Russia.

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