The agreement was concluded during Lukashenko’s first visit to North Korea. The two-day trip began on Wednesday with a state ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square, according to North Korean and Belarusian state media.
The visit deepens North Korea’s alignment with Belarus and Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
Pyongyang is accused by South Korea and its Western allies of sending thousands of troops, along with artillery shells, missiles and rocket systems, to aid the Russian war effort in Ukraine. In return, it is getting financial aid, military technology and food and energy supplies, helping reduce reliance on China, its longstanding backer.
Belarus, a strategic ally of Moscow, hosts Russian forces, missiles and, reportedly, drones for use against Ukraine.
South Korea’s unification ministry says it expects the talks to focus on economic co-operation but also views the trip as part of a broader effort to reinforce Pyongyang’s co-ordination with Belarus and Russia.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Getty Images
Both Pyongyang and Minsk are subject to extensive Western sanctions.
While North Korea faces restrictions linked to its nuclear weapons and missile programmes and its support for the Russian war effort, Belarus is under sanction for its role in the Ukraine conflict and its alleged crackdown on dissent following the disputed 2020 election.
However, the US on Thursday eased sanctions on a major Belarusian state-run investment bank and several potash companies, according to the US Treasury Department website.
North Korea and Belarus established relations in 1992 and, three years later, set up a joint trade and economic co-operation committee that was reactivated last year. North Korea maintains an embassy in Belarus, although Minsk doesn’t have one in Pyongyang.
“The friendly relations between our states, which originated back in the days of the Soviet Union, have never been interrupted.
“Today, as a result of comprehensive progressive development, we’re transitioning to a fundamentally new stage,” Lukashenko told Kim.