North Korea and Belarus's strongmen leaders signed a "friendship and cooperation" treaty on Thursday, state media reported, after Kim Jong Un "warmly" welcomed President Alexander Lukashenko to Pyongyang for a maiden visit.
Besides supporting Russia's war against Ukraine, with around 2,000 North Korean soldiers thought to have been killed, both nations are subject to Western sanctions and are accused of gross human rights violations.
"The friendly relations between our states, born during the era of the Soviet Union, have never been interrupted. Today, thanks to comprehensive and steady development, we are entering a fundamentally new phase," Belarusian state news agency BelTA quoted Lukashenko as saying.
Earlier, Belta showed Kim and Lukashenko hugging at a lavish welcome program on March 25 involving an artillery salute and goose-stepping soldiers before a large flag-waving crowd at Kim Il Sung Square.
Kim "gladly" met and "warmly" welcomed Lukashenko at the start of the two-day visit, the Korean Central News Agency reported, which followed a meeting last year in Beijing.
Lukashenko visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where Kim's embalmed father and grandfather lie in state, to pay his respects, flanked by top North Korean officials, the report said.
Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, laid a bouquet on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
