A ceremony took place at Kim Il Sung Square on March 25 to welcome Aleksandr Lukashenko, president of the Republic of Belarus, who is paying an official visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at the invitation of Kim Jong Un, president of the State Affairs of the DPRK.

The national flags of the DPRK and the Republic of Belarus were hanging on the flagpoles, and the guard of honour and honorary cavalry of the Korean People's Army and the Central Military Band of the Ministry of National Defence lined up there.

Kim Jong Un appeared at the venue for the ceremony for welcoming the Belarus President.

Attending the ceremony were Jo Yong Won, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, Kim Jae Ryong, Ri Il Hwan and Kim Song Nam, secretaries of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Choe Son Hui, minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK, and Kim Tok Hun, first vice-premier of the Cabinet.

Pyongyang citizens and schoolchildren were present there with the national flags of the two countries and flowers in their hands.

The limousine carrying the Belarus President arrived at Kim Il Sung Square amid the playing of welcome music, and Kim Jong Un gladly met with Aleksandr Lukashenko and warmly welcomed him to the DPRK.

Kim Jong Un introduced major cadres of the Party and the government to Aleksandr Lukashenko.

He exchanged greetings with Yuri Shuleiko, deputy prime minister of the government of the Republic of Belarus, Maxim Ruzenkov, minister of Foreign Affairs, Aleksandr Khodzhayev, minister of Public Health, Andrei Ivanets, minister of Education, and Andrei Kuznetsov, minister of Industry, and took the platform together with Aleksandr Lukashenko.

The national anthems of the Republic of Belarus and the DPRK were played while a 21-gun salute boomed.

Aleksandr Lukashenko received a salute from the chief of the guard of honour of the KPA.