Belarus president promises to expand cooperation with North Korea

SEOUL, July 26: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has promised to expand cooperation with Pyongyang in a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, North Korea's foreign ministry said on its website on Friday.

"I affirm that I will work to further expand cooperation with the DPRK to make it full of new content, and common programmes of giving mutual benefits to the improved well-being of the peoples of our countries," the ministry quoted Lukashenko as saying in a statement. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.

The message came as a reply to Pyongyang's sending of congratulations on the National Day of Belarus, the statement said.Both North Korea and Belarus have close ties to Russia, which has become more diplomatically isolated on the global stage since it ordered tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.    —REUTERS