Talk:Alejandro Cao de Benós

Controversy and criticism
This section seems quite biased. I can't comment on the truth of it since I don't know anything about the subject, but I've been keeping an eye on the article as it's been vandalised quite a lot recently. --Ciaran H 18:04, September 8, 2005 (UTC)

Footnote response: Yes, this section looks biased. And what's really the point with the sentence <> ? That's a far too vague accusation (at least in its present form) to be in a wikipedia article, and in most civilised societies finding and quoting a person's address and phone number is neither hard not threatening nor intimidating. There are things called telephone directories. So I suggest removing this sentence (or rewrite, or expand, if there's a real and verifiable intimidation attempt). -- A. Nonymous, April 2006.

FBI seeks arrest of man claiming to be North Korea ‘special delegate’

Spaniard Alejandro Cao De Benos alleged to have conspired with cryptocurrency expert to help Pyongyang evade US sanctions

The FBI has issued an arrest warrant for a Spanish man who claims to be a “special delegate” working for the government of North Korea, accusing him of recruiting a cryptocurrency expert in an attempt to help Pyongyang circumvent US sanctions.

Alejandro Cao de Benós, a 47-year-old Spanish national who describes himself as Pyongyang’s special delegate for the committee for cultural relations with foreign countries, is alleged to have conspired with Virgil Griffith, a US cryptocurrency expert, to “illegally provide cryptocurrency and blockchain services to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)”.

Alejandro meets high-ranking officials of the DPRK
If anyone doubts Alejandro's importance, I have here a picture of Mr. Cao de Benos (Left) meets Mr. Kim Yong Nam, President of the Presidium of the DPR of Korea (Second ranking after Kim Jong Il) and Mr. Mun Jae Chol, Minister of the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. These are people working closest with Kim Jong Il. The picture is taken in 2005. Alejandro is described by DPRK officials as not typical Korean but instead having the same kind of temper as our Leader Kim Jong Il. --Bjornar 22:55, 26 September 2005 (UTC)


 * If Kim Jong-il has the same temper as Alejandro, does that mean Kim ransacks people's hotel rooms and makes vicious threats too? 92.10.187.198 (talk) 14:07, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

You can see him smile here, Shultz. Almost forgot to mention that Kim Jong Il is informed about all the activities of the KFA on a regular basis and even has personally reviewed our webpages and Forum by looking at printouts of the pages. --Bjornar 22:58, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

So what? I have met three British prime ministers and plenty of government ministers, does that make me important? Note that the picture shows him at the head of a line of useful idiots glad-handing this pioneer of the Korean gas chambers and mass starvation. Are they also close friends of Kim, or just this year's tourists to North Korea? --Rugover 20:11, 28 September 2005 (UTC)

The link to that image seems to be down. Hey Bjornar, what's going on with the autographed photos of the Dear Leader? Where are we gonna get them in the gift shop? M.C. Brown Shoes 01:34, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

Personal ad
I don't want to advocate on behalf of Cao in any way, so on behalf of the article and Wikipedia let me say that I think the personal ad is not encyclopedic material. There is plenty of secondary material available on Cao so that we don't have to resort to original research to fill out the article. Furtherm this is a very poor source. A posting like this personal ad could have been placed by anyone from anywhere. In this article the link is clearly intended as an innuendo of Cao's (supposed) homosexuality. If that's the case then let's either say so in the article based on reliable sources or leave it out.

As for this article and the KFA, they're not so bad. Perhaps some editors are too close to the topic. Instead of all this edit warring I suggest that we all relax, go edit articles on North Korean cuisine, small towns in Spain, minor fascist movements of Uruguay or other topics that we might be interested in, yet dispassionate about, and let this topic rest a bit. There's plenty of time to get the history right on this subject. Cheers, -Willmcw 09:15, 2 October 2005 (UTC)


 * I still see no evidence that Cao placed the ad. -Willmcw 23:20, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

As much as I despise this man, I'm going to vouch that the personal ad be removed. It's just irrelevant and bad taste. M.C. Brown Shoes 00:08, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

YouTube videos
Cao de Benos has been documented in several YouTube videos and one would probably serve well as an external link. One located at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH3HXV_DrGY seems good but there are others. Any ideas? Smoove K 11:20, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Doubts
When Cao de Benos became " an advocate of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)" he must have been 16 years old (as he was born 1974). Great research! --60.48.180.74 13:46, 14 October 2006 (UTC)


 * That's what his CV states: Alejandro Cao de Benos was born on 1974, and has worked for North Korea since the year 1990.

Bad Google cache

 * Although it may have no personal effect on Cao, a former colleague in the KFA claimed to have discovered that his family was involved in pogroms in Spain against the Jews and Roma.

The Google Cache finds nothing. Wayback Machine has the page but there is nothing about pogroms. According to the above line:
 * Controversial material of any kind that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous.

I have moved it here.

YouTube links
This article is one of thousands on Wikipedia that have a link to YouTube in it. Based on the External links policy, most of these should probably be removed. I'm putting this message here, on this talk page, to request the regular editors take a look at the link and make sure it doesn't violate policy. In short: 1. 99% of the time YouTube should not be used as a source. 2. We must not link to material that violates someones copyright. If you are not sure if the link on this article should be removed, feel free to ask me on my talk page and I'll review it personally. Thanks. ---J.S (t|c) 07:54, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Notability
This guy has "occasionally" been mentioned on North Korean TV, he organises trips to North Korea, he runs an ebay shop selling badges and he has crazy arguments with journalists. Basically, the man is a bad tour operator for a bad country. He doesn't hold a position within the government of North Korea, yet there is virtually nothing else on North Korean ministers. This is just a vanity page for some Spanish guy with a love of a Stalinist regime. Why is it here?--الأهواز &#124; Hamid &#124; Ahwaz 12:12, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Because he is (or was) the de facto propaganda minister of the DPRNK, as far as the outside world is concerned? Besides, I do find his story fairly interesting. Why would a person do such a job? Especially some Spanish guy? Dysmorodrepanis 17:40, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

I agree that this is a vanity page, and should be merged with the KFA wikipage. Most of the links here are shit 58.174.169.54 (talk) 05:54, 31 January 2011 (UTC)

The subject does meet the criteria for notability. He is the only foreigner to hold an official position within the NK government. He travels frequently and has been interviewed and quotes numerous times by the media. And yes, there needs to be more sources added. Here are some examples:


 * | Forbes:North Korea Tells Forbes That It Is Not Using Twitter, Facebook Or YouTube
 * | NPR: http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/07/20/195590639/the-spanish-aristocrat-who-works-for-north-korea
 * | The Independent: His dear leader: Meet North Korea's secret weapon - an IT consultant from Spain
 * | Huffington Post: North Korea: A Country Without Fiction?

I hope that helps. (talk) user:Al83tito 09:51, 22 July 2013
 * Oh, and as an adendum to my prior entry, the page does not serve only people who are friendly with the NK regime. The subject is of interest to a broader range of readers. Including those who study the history of NK and its current state of affairs. user:Al83tito  09:58, 22 July 2013


 * And here are a few more mainstream sources:


 * http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/11/02/gente/1351886229_381383.html
 * http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2013/0325/North-Korea-s-public-relations-man-is-a-Spaniard-with-a-tough-job
 * http://www.elmundo.es/blogs/elmundo/blogoterraqueo/2011/12/29/el-farsante-espanol-de-pyongyang.html
 * http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/kim-jong-uns-spanish-mouthpiece/
 * http://www.franceinfo.fr/politique/l-histoire-du-jour/un-espagnol-porte-parole-de-la-coree-du-nord-906063-2013-02-28

Hope that helps. user:Al83tito 11:14, 22 July 2013


 * I vote that Alexjandro is Wikipedia notable because he is able to travel to and from DPRK and he has several public reports. Geraldshields11 (talk)

Romanization Problem
The Romanization of his adopted name doesn’t work. It is listed as Zo Sun-il. North Koreans don’t normally hyphenate – that is a recent South Korean trend. Additionally, hangul lost the ability to replicate the Z sound long ago when Koreans (both north and south) opted to cast aside the ㅿ character. The name 조선일 can be Romanized in several fashions, but none of them would utilize a Z.

Indeed, the entire romanization seems off. Now it's listed as "Sum-Yung Gi" or "Won Hung-Lo", which don't look anything like each other and are probably innuendo. I don't speak Korean, but I can follow the transliteration table enough to see that Revised Romanization should look something like "Jo Seon Il". I'm putting that in for now, and deleting the other Romanization scheme.--Watchreader (talk) 05:53, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

Also as a side note, he named himself after the name of North Korea (Choseon)? Or is this name wrong too?--Watchreader (talk) 05:57, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

Which languages does he speak?
Does he speak Korean? If so, where did he learn it? If not, how is he as involved as he is with DPRK affairs? 143.229.132.41 00:51, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

Considering how dedicated he is to North Korean affairs, he probably does speak Korean, or can at least understand it. --Mrdie 14:46, 10 June 2007 (UTC) In videos of trips, he seems to need the help of translators, and his English is also very stilted. It seems that he is only fluent in Spanish, or perhaps Spanish and Catalan. Smoove K 00:24, 24 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Bit of an late answer here. But having seen most online videos with participation of Cao de Benos. He probably learned some Korean phrases. Like Chosonun hanada (Korea is one in the North Korean version of the Korean language), Long live Korea's people army and the complete text of the song No motherland without you. But he's not able to conversate in Korean. As said, for that he needs the help of a translator. He himself states that "his Korean is not so good". Since he's from Catalonia the only languages he speaks fluently are Spanish and Catalan.


 * I personally think the DPRK-government doesn't want him to learn Korean in a way that he would be able to conversate with 'normal' North Koreans. North Koreans/the DPRK-government do(es) not trust people that aren't Korean, even after 18 years of service for their country.


 * His involvement with DPRK affairs isn't very clear. He himself states that he represents the DPRK government. But there aren't any documents or information available to proof that. Besides that, North Korean information isn't the most reliable information around. (but that's an discussion in itself). Dre Odz (talk) 19:56, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Why?
It is strange that all the references to a very extended criticism have been removed. Is this neutrality?--QIrus (talk) 13:06, 29 March 2008 (UTC)
 * I noticed that information about the Andrew Morse incident has been toned down (i.e. that Alejandro "searched" his room). I have edited it to show the thugish nature of the incident, which is available to see on the Friends of Kim documentary. Alejandro later admits on the same video to carrying out the attack. 92.10.187.198 (talk) 14:00, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Actually, even if he admits it, it may not necessarily be true. It could equally well be an agreement between the North Koreans and him, that he would take the blame, to make the North Koreans look fine. That is just speculation, of course. --Mlewan (talk) 08:41, 14 February 2010 (UTC)

Castillian or Catalan?
His name suggests he's of Castilian background, not Catalan.


 * Why Castilian and not Andalusian, Balear, Extremenian, Murcian, Valencian, Canarian, Galician, Basque, Aragonese, Asturian, Cantabre, Riojan, Navarre, or Madrilenian? There are 15 more autonomous communities in Spain apart from Castille and Catalonia. It is almost impossible to know the background of a Spaniard departing from his name, despite all the nationalist bullshit. And he is Catalan, born in Tarragona. When he talks he shows a strong Catalan accent. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.31.25.248 (talk) 12:59, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Cao de Benós has gone missing?
I read on some conservative discussion group that Cao de Benós's whereabouts have been unaccounted for since mid-2007. Question: is this rumor substantiated? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.233.151.37 (talk) 17:24, 7 September 2009 (UTC)

His blog would indicate that he is still around. --Mrdie (talk) 15:45, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

He appeared on Russia Today's "Crosstalk" on May 31 and gave a stout defence of the DPRK. 87.115.36.131 (talk) 20:50, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

I have just returned from a trip to North Korea (August 2011). I can assure you he is still around as I ran into him in Pyongyang and had my photo taken with Cao (I am the person in the centre). http://www.flickr.com/photos/32265037@N08/6074390067/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.165.217.79 (talk) 13:23, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

Military service and allegiance
The infobox includes a section on military service, with his rank (Alférez), and his allegiance. This information is not mentioned anywhere in the body of the article, and it is not referenced to any source. Allegiance to North Korea can be clearly inferred from the context, however, a few minutes ago somebody added allegiance to Spain. What basis is there to make that claim? (talk) user:Al83tito 10:08, 22 July 2013

his tweet claiming that musicians are still alive and will perform
https://twitter.com/DPRK_CAODEBENOS/status/373514514894835712

following the story that Kim murdered his ex-girlfriend and the band — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.130.168.139 (talk) 21:09, 6 October 2013 (UTC)
 * His tweet was listed on the band's article. Geraldshields11 (talk) 13:38, 22 October 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
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Categories and citizenship?
Is he of North Korean nationality? He has the categories North Korean activists, North Korean communists, and Norht Korean diplomats applied to him. Those categories aren't just for people who are related to North Korea, those are for people of North Korean nationality. 104.232.119.107 (talk) 07:15, 19 May 2024 (UTC)