On the visit of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to the DPRK

On March 25-26, 2026, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko paid an official visit to the DPRK at the invitation of Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Chronicle of the visit

The visit marked the Belarusian leader’s first official visit to North Korea.

Media outlets in the DPRK, Russia, and Belarus reported on the upcoming visit the day before, on March 24. This signifies not so much a sudden agreement on the visit as a customary practice for Pyongyang, based on security requirements. The concept of the visit was discussed back in 2024-2025, when North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui visited Belarus. The direct invitation followed a personal meeting between the two leaders in September 2025 in Beijing, where they attended a military parade. North Korea and Belarus officially established diplomatic relations in 1992, and a joint committee on trade and economic cooperation has been in place since 1995.

From a protocol standpoint, the visit was extremely formal: a bouquet of flowers, a red carpet, an honor guard, a military band, and children holding flags. Lukashenko was met at the airport by First Deputy Prime Minister Kim Duk-hun and Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Jong-gyu. The head of Belarus was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Shuleiko, Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov, Health Minister Alexander Khodzhayev, Education Minister Andrei Ivanets, and Industry Minister Andrei Kuznetsov.

During the ceremonial portion of his visit, Alexander Lukashenko visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, paid his respects to Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, and laid a wreath at the Liberation Monument, erected in 1946 as a token of gratitude to the Soviet troops who participated in the liberation of Korea from Japanese colonial rule in August 1945.

Furthermore, at the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko laid flowers in gratitude for their assistance in the Soviet Military District. During his visit to the memorial complex, Lukashenko placed a........

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