Both leaders had taken a neutral stance during the Sino-Soviet split and maintained friendly relations with both the Soviet Union and China.

The North Korean foreign minister Paek Man Sun expressed his full support of the Serbian government against NATO, and urged the world community to prevent the United States from using military force in Kosovo.

[2][3] In 2000, a Workers' Party of Korea delegation participated in the fourth congress of the Socialist Party of Serbia, and representative Kim Man Ik delivered a speech condemning American imperialism in the Yugoslav Wars, and expressed his solidarity with the Serbian government and Slobodan Milošević.

Regarding Serbia's military actions in Kosovo, Kim said, "The people and armed forces of Yugoslavia, determined to defend to the end the sovereignty of the country, turned out valiantly in a sacred war against the aggression of the US-led NATO forces and fully demonstrated to the rest of the world their indefatigable will and heroic stamina.

Serbian foreign minister Ivica Dačić stressed the need for a diplomatic solution to the North Korean crisis.