North Korea and Belarus ink trade deal amid sanctions concerns
North Korea and Belarus have signed an agreement on trade and economic cooperation, as reported by the North Korean agency KCNA on Friday. However, details of the deal were not provided. Both nations also explored ways to enhance cooperation in agriculture, the machinery industry, public health, and education.
The document was signed in Pyongyang on Thursday during a meeting between the Belarusian delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Shuleyko, and North Korean Deputy Prime Minister Jong Myong Su.
"Issues of practical mutual cooperation in various sectors, including agriculture, the machinery industry, public health, trade, and education, were discussed in detail during the meeting," noted KCNA.
This meeting marked the third session of the intergovernmental committee for trade and economic cooperation and was the first since June 2006.
The Yonhap agency highlights that cooperation between the two countries in machinery could potentially violate UN Security Council resolutions that prohibit member states from supplying North Korea with industrial machinery.
Belarus is among the few countries with which the isolated North Korea is strengthening economic ties despite severe international sanctions. Both regimes are close allies of Russia and support its invasion of Ukraine.
