Alejandro Cao de Benós de Les y Pérez
| Alejandro Cao de Benós de Les y Pérez 조선일 |
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|---|---|
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| President of the Korean Friendship Association | |
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Assumed office August 8, 2000 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 1974 Reus, Catalonia, Spain |
| Alejandro Cao de Benós | |
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 조선일 |
|---|---|
| Hancha | 朝鮮一 |
| Revised Romanization | Jo Seon Il |
| McCune–Reischauer | Cho Sŏn-il |
Alejandro Cao de Benós de Les y Pérez (born 1974) is a Spanish political activist with close relations with North Korea. 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 also the founder, president, and only salaried member of the Korean Friendship Association (KFA). All official government and ministerial sites of North Korea have the .kp domain and given the whois record for KFA's website points towards it being the personally owned domain of Alejandro 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 DPRK´s hierarchy.
He has been an advocate of North Korea since 1990. His Korean name, Cho Son-il ("Korea is One"), is self-given but not a legal name as he travels using his Spanish passport. He has lived in Tarragona and Barcelona (Spain), working as an IT consultant.
On 14 June 2016 he was arrested by the Spanish Guardia Civil in Tarragona for arms trafficking.
Cao de Benós comes from a Spanish noble family. His paternal ancestors were the barons of Les, marquesses of Rosalmonte and counts of Arjelejo, Grandees belonging to the highest-ranking members of the Spanish nobility, who were linked for centuries to the Spanish Army and Navy. Many of them were defenders of Carlism and Francoism. Although Alejandro's grandfather was born rich, he lost his inheritance and ended up working as a guard for Repsol-Butano.
Cao de Benós founded the Korean Friendship Association in 2000, purchasing and establishing his privately owned domain name which whilst claiming to be officially sanctioned is in fact privately owned and registered in his name. It includes a media section and a web-shop where badges, North Korean music and other items can be bought online. Goods purchased are sent from Spain.
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