Alejandro Cao de Benós de Les y Pérez (born 24 December 1974) is a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

political activist with close relations with

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

. He is a Special Representative of the Foreign Ministry of North Korea. He is, according to himself, also the Special Delegate of North Korea's Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. He is wanted by the US

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

for

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

to violate the

International Emergency Economic Powers Act The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Title II of , is a United States federal law authorizing the president to regulate international commerce after declaring a national emergency in response to any unusual and extraordinary t ...

(IEEPA). He is also the founder, president, and only salaried member of the

Korean Friendship Association The Korean Friendship Association (KFA, es, Asociación de Amistad con Corea) is a Spain-based friendship association with North Korea. The KFA was established in November 2000. It claims to have official representatives in 34 countries. The KFA ...

(KFA). He has been an advocate of North Korea since 1990. His Korean name, Cho Sun-il ("One Korea"), is self-given but not a legal name as he travels using his Spanish passport. He is an honorary member of the ruling

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of ...

and the

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the ''Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General Sec ...

. He has lived in

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, working as an IT consultant. In April 2022, the

US Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

charged Cao de Benós "with conspiring to violate United States sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea."

Family origins

Cao de Benós comes from a Spanish noble family. His paternal ancestors were the barons of Les, marquesses of Rosalmonte and counts of Argelejo,

Grandee Grandee (; es, Grande de España, ) is an official royal and noble ranks, aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neith ...

s belonging to the highest-ranking members of the Spanish nobility, who were linked for centuries to the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army ( es, Ejército de Tierra, lit=Land Army) is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies — dating back to the late 15th century. The ...

and

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

. Many of them were defenders of

Carlism Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty – one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855) – ...

and

Francoism Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spa ...

. Although Cao de Benós's grandfather was born rich, he lost his inheritance and ended up working as a guard for Repsol-Butano.

Korean Friendship Association activities

Cao de Benós founded the Korea Friendship Association in 2000, purchasing and establishing his privately owned domain name which whilst claiming to be officially sanctioned is privately owned and registered in his name. All official government and ministerial sites of North Korea have the

.kp .kp is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). It was created on 24 September 2007. History The DPRK applied for the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) in 2004. ICANN, ...

domain and, given the

WHOIS WHOIS (pronounced as the phrase "who is") is a query and response protocol that is widely used for querying databases that store the registered users or assignees of an Internet resource, such as a domain name, an IP address block or an autonomou ...

record for KFA's website points towards it being the personally owned domain of Cao de Benós, there is doubt about its claim to be the "official web page of DPR of Korea" and thus Cao de Benós's claims of his actual status in North Korea's hierarchy. Cao de Benós has regularly visited

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

, assisting with press pass application and acting as a translator for the foreign press (constantly under supervision of local authorities) and helping to schedule business meetings. Cao de Benós acts for a commission as an intermediary in such meetings and in line with having no official paid employment is not paid any base salary. He has written numerous articles on matters relating to the political situation in the Korean Peninsula, dissemination of state propaganda as well as giving press interviews. Cao de Benós is one of the few foreigners to claim to follow the North Korean party line; he continues as president of his company the Korean Friendship Association. Cao de Benós is featured in the documentaries ''Friends of Kim'', '' The Propaganda Game'' and '' The Mole: Undercover in North Korea''.

Pyongyang Cafe

In July 2016, Cao de Benós founded a bar called Pyongyang Cafe in

, which is decorated with North Korean propaganda posters and features regular talks on subjects such as tourism. The café closed to the public in March 2017 and became a members-only establishment for KFA members.

Criticism

Cao de Benós has been the subject of widespread criticism from the Western press for, among other things, trying to restrict

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

of journalists. He has expelled members of the "Association of Friendship with Korea" for "disrespect".This incident and Alejandro's acknowledgement of responsibility can be seen in th
"Friends of Kim"
documentary He has also been accused of threatening and intimidating journalists critical of North Korea.

Andrew Morse Andrew Morse (born March 10, 1974) is an American journalist and television news executive. He was the Executive Vice President of CNN US, as well as EVP and chief digital officer of CNN Worldwide from 2013 until 2022. Morse is also the co-founder ...

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

visited North Korea in 2004, at the invitation of the Association. Morse was accused of using sensationalist language to describe North Korean

collective farms Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...

. When asked about the incident, Cao de Benós said, "Mr. Morse broke almost every rule specified beforehand, including the DPRK law. So after several warnings that he completely ignored, appropriate measures were taken." The "appropriate measures" included unauthorized entry and search of journalist Morse's Pyongyang hotel room, including destruction of his laptop and recordings; Cao de Benós compelled Morse to write a letter of apology under duress, in exchange for being granted permission to leave the country. While he is authorized to "promote and develop cultural relations," Cao de Benós has been criticized for fraudulently representing himself as a North Korean government employee and the KFA as an official North Korean entity, neither of which are true. Cao de Benós has been criticized for charging more than twice as much as other tour organizers to bring filmmakers, artists and tourists to North Korea. In exchange for these higher prices, he promises exclusive access, although the attractions on his itinerary are comparable to those on any other tour. Furthermore, Cao de Benós has historically failed to secure permits and permissions for even standard, relatively highly-accessible attractions. In 2020, an unpublished report by the UN Panel of Experts denounced Cao de Benós for violating UN sanctions by facilitating a joint venture between the DPRK and KFA. A federal arrest warrant was issued in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York on January 27, 2022, after he was charged with

to violate the

(IEEPA). He is wanted by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

from January 2022 for working with an American citizen to illegally provide cryptocurrency and blockchain technology services to the DPRK.

Awards and honors

Cao de Benós can be seen wearing his North Korean decorations in a picture taken alongside

Yang Hyong-sop Yang Hyong-sop (1 October 1925 – 13 May 2022) was a North Korean politician who served as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly and Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly from 1983 to 1998 (from 1994 it was form ...

References

External links

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