The Other Side of “North Korea”
However, despite all the allegations which are leveled against North Korea , there’s one other side of the story which is rarely discussed in the mainstream media, and that’s why many people in the world don’t know much about this country. In order to explore that other side, we have done an interview with Alejandro Cao de Benós.Alejandro Cao de Benós, a Spanish diplomat who is one of the few foreign nationals working with the North Korean government is the Special Delegate of the DPRK’s Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries and president of the Korean Friendship Association (KFA). Since 1990, he has been advocating for North Korea and his Korean name, Cho Son-il, has been recognized by the Pyongyang government.Alejandro says that since he was a teenager, his dream was to cooperate with the North Korean government which at the outset seemed unusual and unimaginable for a Western citizen. He received a North Korean passport after establishing the Korean Friendship Association in the year 2000 and since then has been designated a legal representative of the North Korea Foreign Ministry.Alejandro Cao de Benós took part in an exclusive interview with me and responded to different questions about the North Korean culture, common misconceptions about the country, the portrayal of North Korea in the Western media, human rights and press freedom in the country and its relations with the foreign countries. My Spanish friend Moises Herrezuelo helped me with doing this interview.
Q: What do you think are the main reasons behind the negative portrayal of North Korea in the Western media? We constantly hear or read that North Korea is an autocratic regime, suppresses individual freedoms, imprisons political dissidents, etc. What’s your viewpoint in this regard?A: 98% of the information about DPRK is completely false or just plainly invented. The main reasons are:1) Propaganda sponsored by the U.S. trough its own media and fake NGOs operated by CIA and its allies.2) Sensationalism, that brings subscribers and money to the tabloids.The black hole of information about North Korea is such that is continuously abused by many journalists to fabricate all kind of stories. A military post seen by satellite becomes a concentration camp. A self-defense shelling becomes an invasion. A rocket becomes a threat to the international community. Interestingly the country which makes that claim possesses more than 6000 nuclear missiles and is the only country that has ever used nuclear weapons against civilians.In the DPRK the people is firmly united under the Juche Idea (Socialism in Korean style) and the leadership of Marshal Kim Jong Un. Because decadent western societies are so individualistic and selfish, they cannot imagine or allow a socialist system that believes in creating a human harmonious society where everything is provided to the people based on equality and where the leaders of the country are not the rich shareholders, but the nation’s masses.Housing, healthcare, education, foods, clothing are provided by free to each citizen, and if such small country like Korea can be free of drugs and prostitution, how the poor, homeless, jobless people living the ‘American dream’ should feel if they know the real truth?.
Q: I read that each year, only around 1,500 Western tourists come to North Korea, and those who travel to the country must follow strict rules and be always accompanied by official tour guides. Can’t such restrictions on tourism contribute to the distortion of the public image of the DPRK? Overall, what’s your viewpoint toward tourism in North Korea and the face-to-face interaction of the tourists with the people?A: The limitations in tourism are essential to control the impact of foreign culture and illegal activities. In the past we have hundreds of incidents from people that came as a tourist while their purpose was to spy or sabotage our society.This is one of the ways used by the U.S. to infiltrate our country through sending ordinary people, sponsor a ‘rebel group’ and let them work to overthrow the government; see Libya and now Syria.Do not forget that USA is expert in marketing and they know well how to cheat, especially young people that are fed continuous stupidity from satellite channels.I hope that Iranian people will remain united and fight to preserve their culture, identity and heritage. If you continue listening sweet words from your main enemy you will be invaded culturally, and to be invaded by ground troops is just the next step.In DPRK, friendship is won by trust, trust is won by time. If you show a good intention, there is no problem for a foreigner to interact, walk around at 02:00 AM or even live in the country.

[ed notes;just citing few paragraphs click link for whole whole interview