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According to reports, on July 23, local time, Belarusian Foreign Minister Reyzhenkov arrived in North Korea to start an official visit. This trip took place against the backdrop of the relationship between North Korea and Russia being elevated to a new level. Reyzhenkov is expected to discuss bilateral and Belarus-Russia-North Korea trilateral cooperation with the North Korean side.

“Opening a new era”

The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on July 22 saying that at the invitation of the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rezhenkov will lead a delegation on an official visit to North Korea from July 23 to 25.

The Korean Central News Agency also released the news, but said that Ryzhenkov will pay an official visit to North Korea from July 23 to 26.

Neither side announced the specific itinerary of Ryzhenkov's trip. But according to reports, Ryzhenkov arrived in North Korea on July 23, and North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Sun Hui hosted a banquet at the Koryo Hotel in Pyongyang that evening.

In her speech at the banquet, Choi Sun Hui said that North Korea and Belarus share common ideals and goals, and that North Korea insists on opening a new era in bilateral relations.

Rezhenkov also delivered a speech saying that Belarusian President Lukashenko and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un both attach great importance to the development of bilateral relations, and Belarus will promote the development of bilateral relations in the spirit of mutual respect, mutual understanding and mutual trust.

Some public opinion speculates that as the foreign ministers of the two countries, Ryzhenkov may hold talks with Choi Sun-hee. In addition, as the relationship between North Korea and Belarus is developing in a positive direction, it is expected that Choi Sun-hee will accompany Ryzhenkov on an official visit to North Korea. If so, Choi Sun-hee may miss the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting scheduled to be held in Vientiane, Laos on July 27.

Accelerating relationship development

It is reported that Belarus and North Korea established diplomatic relations in 1992 and the two countries maintain regular ministerial-level contacts. In 2016, North Korea opened an embassy in Minsk, but Belarus has not yet opened an embassy in Pyongyang.

Public information shows that Ryzhenkov's trip marks the first visit to North Korea by a Belarusian foreign minister.

It is also worth noting that Rezhenkov was the first deputy director of the Belarusian Presidential Office. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko appointed him as Belarusian Foreign Minister on June 27, less than a month after Rezhenkov took office. Choosing North Korea as the first destination he visited after taking office shows how much Belarus currently values ​​North Korea.

Since the beginning of this year, relations between North Korea and Belarus have shown positive development momentum.

In January this year, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Kyong met with then-Belarusian Foreign Minister Aleinik during the Non-Aligned Movement Summit held in Uganda.

On April 16 this year, Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Shestakov visited North Korea and met with North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Im Chun-il.

At that time, the two sides exchanged views on "regional and international issues of common concern". The two sides also decided to "adapt to the changes of the times and strengthen high-level contacts" and "deepen the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries by strengthening cooperation in the economic and cultural fields, closely supporting each other, and conducting international cooperation."

On April 17, Shestakov met with Russian Ambassador to North Korea Matsegora, and the two sides exchanged views on the situation in Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula and the development of relations with North Korea.

It is reported that this is the first time a high-level Belarusian delegation has visited North Korea in many years. The last time was in December 2018.

“Consider tripartite cooperation”

Why did the relationship between North Korea and Belarus suddenly become close this year? Public opinion noted that this happened against the background of the relationship between North Korea and Russia being elevated to a new level.

On September 13 last year, Kim Jong-un visited Russia and held a "historic" meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two sides discussed a number of major issues and cooperation matters and reached agreements and consensus.

Belarus is Russia's traditional ally. Shortly after Putin met with Kim Jong-un, Putin and Lukashenko held talks in Sochi on September 15 last year. At that time, Lukashenko said that Belarus, Russia and North Korea "can consider trilateral cooperation."

Last month, Putin paid a state visit to North Korea and met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and the two countries signed the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which Putin said was a breakthrough document that would elevate cooperation between the two countries to a new level.

It is worth noting that just as Rezhenkov arrived in North Korea, a delegation led by Russian Prosecutor General Krasnov had just ended its visit to North Korea and left on the 23rd.

Some media said that this was the first visit of the Russian Attorney General to North Korea. During the visit, Krasnov held talks with Kim Chol-won, the Chief Prosecutor of the Central Procuratorate of North Korea, and signed an inter-departmental cooperation agreement and a cooperation plan for 2024-2026.

Against this background, during his visit to North Korea, Rezhenkov is likely to discuss issues such as Belarus-North Korea bilateral and Belarus-Russia-North Korea trilateral cooperation.

Public opinion has noted that the driving force behind the cooperation among the three countries, or the "commonality", is that they are all located in Eurasia and are all trying to cope with sanctions and pressure from the United States and the West. In recent years, as the Ukrainian crisis continues and the situation on the Korean Peninsula becomes tense, the confrontation between the three countries and the United States and the West has intensified, and "grouping" cooperation is in the interests of the three parties.