Lukashenka’s attempt to establish relations with North Korea encountered an unexpected problem: Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, said that no invitations to hold a high-level meeting had been sent, thus refuting the statements of the Belarusian politician.
Moreover, Pyongyang’s second face added a humiliating for Lukashenka admonition on the importance of honesty and clarity in international relations, emphasizing the need to state his intentions clearly and correctly.
Relations are just like the regimes
Relations between Minsk and North Korea have a long history. Few people know that the Galleria Minsk shopping mall, one of the most popular entertainment venues for young people, was built by North Korean workers, among others. Eyewitnesses said that short Koreans had to work with our shovels in pairs: one pressed, the other used his body weight to lift the ground.
In interstate relations, Belarus supplied trucks, potash, and rendered services, such as geological exploration, to the DPRK. In return, Korea paid in money and barter – they sent resources and labor. This is how North Korean construction crews, in fact slaves, ended up in Belarus.
There has been a noticeable intensification of relations over the past 1.5 years, especially after the rapprochement between the DPRK and Russia began. This led to supplies of shells and brigades of North Koreans, but this time military, to participate in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Lukashenka is trying to get into this Russian-Korean scheme. This way he hopes to get some contracts. Besides, contacts between the two dictators are certainly valuable for PR and allow him to strengthen his legitimacy, albeit negative, as a participant in the “union of dictators.”
Failure with a quality mark
The situation with the current denial of plans to hold bilateral meetings looks rather tense for Lukashenka. Besides, the episode with the DPRK is not the only case. He had a similar story with China. Lukashenka was eager to come to Beijing before the “election” to gain political support from Xi Jinping. However, the visit never took place. Although there are still 6 days until the voting day, it is hard to imagine that the Belarusian politician would take off at such a crucial moment for his power.
The reason for these embarrassments is the same: Lukashenka announces the visits for which he is not ready. His foreign visits to these countries have no purpose, which makes them look more like diplomatic tourism. Therefore, partners, seeing no interest, do not go forward.
Lukashenka’s penchant for fiction has long been known to his partners inside the country and in the European region. Many times this trait led to curiosities that were ridiculed by the whole country. For example, when he claimed that he had a Tesla in his garage – a gift from Ilon Musk.
However, such “distinctive features” of Lukashenka are still new to his partners in the East.
Eastward turn to nowhere
The unsuccessful episode with Pyongyang certainly does not mean that its relations with Minsk can be given up. In the same statement, Kim Yo Jong only criticized Lukashenka’s communication methods, but expressed openness to cooperation.
However, it is obvious that even in the East the most experienced politician of Europe fails to prove himself as a diplomat and statesman. Moreover, this happens even with those states to which Minsk has begun to feel not only diplomatic, but also ideological gravity.
Today, the tone of both Minsk and its propagandists towards North Korea has changed to open sympathy and explicit calls to introduce elements of the Juche model in Belarus. Although earlier Belarus’ officials preferred to avoid any parallels with this state, considering it ridiculous. Even supporters of dictatorship still preferred to refer to South Korea and its era of military dictatorships.
Therefore, it seems that we haven’t noticed how much the country has descended into a dismal dictatorship in 5 years. Not only have we stopped even discussing the so-called “election,” but we haven’t noticed how the Taliban and North Korea have become promising friends and role models.