"Europe is on vacation." Ryzhenkov on his impressions from his visit to the DPRK

Maxim Ryzhenkov, 29 July, MINSK . Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov, who recently visited the DPRK, shared his impressions of the visit to the country with journalists, a BELTA correspondent reports.

"The country is very interesting. And a specific example of how fakes work, which are imposed on the international community through some information resources," the minister emphasized. "A hardworking, neat, developing country. This is all visible. Construction is underway in all the cities that we flew over or drove through. Pyongyang is a very clean, nice, neat city. The only thing is that there are no huge mansions like those outside the ring road, like we have. But in general, from the point of view of the country for living, it looks quite decent. And it will give odds to many other countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America. And in terms of cleanliness and well-groomed, amenities, I would say that Europe is actually resting."

Maxim Ryzhenkov is confident in the presence of mutual interest in terms of trade. For example, he sees prospects for the supply of Belarusian pharmaceutical products to the DPRK. "It was a big surprise for me when I went to a pharmacy and found a medicine of Polish origin. Considering how Poland is pursuing its policy towards this country," he noted. The North Korean side was given information on a certain product range with an emphasis on what the DPRK needs.

Issues of food supplies were also discussed. This primarily concerns dry MILK and MEAT. There is also great interest in baby food.

Another promising area is cooperation in education. "We reached an agreement in terms of healthcare and training of doctors. I was pleasantly surprised by the educational programs aimed at teaching preschool and primary school children. We immediately agreed that our specialists would come and see how they work with this category. The children at this age already study several languages, think logically and creatively, which God grant to every adult," the minister shared his impressions.
In the educational sphere, they also agreed on cooperation at the level of universities of the two countries. On the Belarusian side, this is the Pedagogical University, BSU and the Medical University.

"There are many areas of joint activity of a humanitarian, cultural and sports nature. In the near future, our specialists will exchange a number of visits in order to take a more detailed look at those bilateral areas that we could further develop," said Maxim Ryzhenkov.

Speaking in general about the prospects for developing cooperation with the DPRK, Maxim Ryzhenkov emphasized that this is beneficial, interesting and productive for the Belarusian side. "Naturally, we understand that on the other side there is a reliable and very confident partner who will not abandon us in favor of some overseas interests," said the HEAD of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
At the same time , Belarusis also ready to consider options for participation in trilateral initiatives, implementing certain projects not only directly with the DPRK, but also in cooperation with RUSSIA or CHINA. After all, these countries have accumulated a wealth of relations with the DPRK over several decades, which could be used in the common interests. 

Photo by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs