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Foreign minister touting North Korea after visit
During the visit
July 29, Pozirk. North Korea is a very interesting country in contrast to fake stories imposed on the international community by certain media, Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryžankoŭ said today.
After visiting the East Asian nation on July 24-25, he described it as a hardworking, neat and developing nation.
“Construction is under way in all the cities that we flew over or drove through. Pyongyang is a very clean, nice and tidy city. However, it does not have huge mansions outside the beltway like we have here sometimes,” Ryžankoŭ told state media.
In his opinion, North Korea’s living standards are higher than in many Asian, African and Latin American countries.
North Korea is also cleaner and more orderly than Europe, he added.
In Pyongyang, Ryžankoŭ held talks with Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and Prime Minister Kim Tok-hun.
He made the trip in return for the 2015 visit by Ri Su-yong, then-foreign minister of North Korea.
In April 2024, Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Jaŭhien Šastakoŭ visited Pyongyang as part of “scheduled political consultations.”
Siarhiej Alejnik, Belarus’ previous foreign minister, and North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong discussed stronger cooperation on January 18 on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement summit.
During his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on September 15, Alaksandar Łukašenka suggested that Russia, Belarus and North Korea should consider trilateral cooperation.
The UN Security Council sanctioned North Korea for developing its nuclear program.
The country ranks 161st in freedom of speech in Article 19’s latest report, only three lines below Belarus.
