Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko gestures during a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Union State with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow on Feb. 26. (Pool Photo via AP) Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko will make an official visit to North Korea from Wednesday to Thursday at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to the state-run Belarusian Telegraph Agency.
This would be the first visit to North Korea by a Belarusian president amid closer alignment between the two countries during Russia’s war against Ukraine. It will also kick off Kim’s summit diplomacy for the year.
“The parties are set to discuss a wide range of fields to develop relations between Belarus and the DPRK, identify key areas of mutual interest and outline the most promising projects for implementation,” the BelTA said in its English-language report, referring to North Korea by its official name. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“The upcoming visit is expected to strengthen the legal and contractual framework of bilateral relations and promote more active cooperation between the two states,” the media added.
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency also on Tuesday reported on Lukashenko’s official trip to North Korea at Kim’s invitation without further details, including the date of the trip.
The Pul Pervogo Telegram channel, which is close to the Belarusian president’s press service, had reported last September that Kim had invited Lukashenko to visit North Korea at any convenient time before the Sept. 3 “Victory Day” military parade in Beijing.
Why Lukashenko’s visit matters
The visit comes amid a steady deepening of ties between North Korea and Belarus, both of which have aligned closely with Russia and backed its war in Ukraine, while seeking to promote a multipolar global order as an alternative to US-led dominance.
The proposed “Eurasian Charter,” an initiative promoted by Russia and Belarus, is an example of such an alignment.
At the first Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security in October 2023, Belarus invited North Korea, Iran and Myanmar to join the framework. In February this year, Belarus’ Foreign Ministry said the four countries had issued a joint statement reaffirming the idea of a “Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity,” effectively formalizing North Korea’s participation.
The North Korean leader also signaled a recalibration of Pyongyang’s diplomatic priorities in his policy speech to the Supreme People’s Assembly on Monday, according to state media reports Tuesday.
Kim Jong-un said, “In line with the demands of a new era, we will continue to improve and strengthen state-to-state relations with countries that have traditional friendly ties from a developmental perspective.”
Kim underscored that “at the same time we must place national interests first, readjust and redefine diplomatic priorities, and carry them out in a strategic manner on the principle of guaranteeing mid- to long-term strategic national interests.”
Against that backdrop, diplomatic exchanges between Pyongyang and Minsk have notably intensified in recent years.
In July 2024, Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhenkov visited Pyongyang and met with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, while a Belarusian government delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Shuleiko traveled to North Korea in May 2025 for an intergovernmental joint committee on trade and economic cooperation.
Choe then attended the third Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security in October 2025, where she held talks with her Belarusian counterpart.
Kim and Lukashenko have also engaged in letter diplomacy.
In February 2025, Kim sent a public message congratulating Lukashenko on securing a seventh term in office. Lukashenko, in turn, sent a congratulatory message marking Kim’s reappointment as general secretary at the Ninth Party Congress this February.
dagyumji@heraldcorp.com