While the second Trump-Kim summit was expected to secure more concrete commitments from Pyongyang on denuclearisation, of late, Trump has shifted away from demanding immediate action to considering a peace treaty together with the North’s agreement to destroy some of its nuclear facilities.

His view is based on three trips to a country where visitors are chaperoned by government minders. Airul, who says he works as a civil servant, admits he had to ask permission to visit and photograph certain sites, but put it down to how “in traditional Asian communities, the people are more introverted and not willing to talk to outsiders as much”.

On a United Nations report in 2013 that said the North, which has carried out six nuclear tests since 2006, was responsible for rights violations, including summary executions, enslavement and forced abortions, Airul said these were “baseless allegations”.

Is Trump-Kim summit a turning point for Korean reunification?

“[They] are nothing more than a smear campaign by the liberal media to hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK,” said Airul, adding that the Singapore members mostly have Skype conversations to discuss propaganda works written by the ruling Kims.

Dermot Hudson, a part-time office worker, who serves as the head of the KFA’s UK branch, agreed and said the reports were “fabricated by the reactionary imperialist forces”.

Trevor Spencer, the head of the KFA in Canada, described Kim – who experts say has conducted numerous bloody purges of officials, including family members who served in those roles – as a “person of the people”.

The former member of the Communist Party of Canada said: “Again, you can look at the news from North Korea and you can see he is going to villages, he is going to hospitals, he is going to houses, factories, everywhere – engaging with the people, seeing what they want, what they need.”

North Korea has been subject to heavy sanctions for its nuclear programme, and many of its 25 million people live in poverty and suffer from food and fuel shortages. Recent media reports though point to growing affluence fuelled by a thriving grey market, with pockets of society spending on consumer goods and eating out at restaurants.

For Spencer, he says his affinity for the isolated government is driven by his commitment to “social justice” and his personal experiences of prejudice as a Métis, a distinct ethnic group of mixed Indigenous and European decent.

‘Even if it is paid trillions of dollars, North Korea won’t give up nukes’

While the KFA claims to be recognised by Kim’s administration and that it liaises closely with the North’s Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, a government body that handles cultural exchanges with the outside world, the extent of its connections to Pyongyang is murky.

“[The KFA] does not have any policy influence and does not engage in any substantive political interactions with the regime,” said Michael Madden, an expert on the hermit kingdom and the founder of North Korea Leadership Watch.

KFA leader de Benos, who regularly dons the North Korean military uniform, maintains he is a “special delegate” of the committee for cultural relations.

“I have credentials from the government of the republic of the DPRK, and those credentials accreditate me as an envoy, as a counterpart, as a person working in this position, but on an honorary basis,” he said, explaining that his organisation is in regular contact with government ministries and embassies to arrange trips and exchanges.

“We don’t receive a salary from anyone, or donations from any government in the world.”

De Benos dismisses claims, made by former associates and clients, who’ve used him to arrange travel in the country, that he has inflated his importance and connections.

“Anybody can check my position through the government of the republic and any of our embassies around the world, provided they even have some kind of access to our diplomats,” he said.

He initially offered to send the South China Morning Post a scanned copy of his credentials, but later replied with a link to this writer’s previous work and the comment “nice try”.

“Now I understand why you don’t have any DPRK government source to check who I am,” he said.

“Bye.”

In a later email, De Benos said the writer could not be trusted with his credentials because previous articles showed a “lack of impartiality” and contained “anti-DPRK propaganda”.

Brian Bridges, affiliate fellow of the Centre for Asian Pacific Studies at Lingnan University, said the KFA was generally not taken seriously.

“North Korea does remain an enigma. Consequently, there are many misperceptions about life in North Korea – and the societal changes taking place there – that are repeated in the global media,” he said.

“Some correction or clarification of the situation is useful, but, unfortunately, the KFA’s approach is to very closely copy the arguments and commentaries coming out of Pyongyang. In some cases, this mimicry is taken so far that even when the official DPRK media occasionally admits to ‘setbacks’ in this or that policy, the KFA blithely carries on with ‘positive’ messages.”

But Pyongyang promoters like Airul are undeterred by public opinion. Asked if there was anything that would ever change his mind about North Korea, Airul was unequivocal.

“No.”