North Korea’s man in Spain, a socialist cheerleader who sells foreigners on the country’s advantages and takes a cut of deals
Spaniard Alejandro Cao de Benós found his calling in socialist North Korea – not least because of a shared ideology – and is keen to clear misconceptions about the health of the hermit kingdom and its supreme leader.
The message from Dubai in late 2018 wasn’t unusual. It’s just part of daily life for Alejandro Cao de Benós to open his email and find some intrepid capitalist who wants to do a little business in North Korea.
Recently, there was the one from a guy in Hawaii who wanted to open a McDonald’s in Pyongyang. That’s an easy no. Privately owned businesses are forbidden in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). “No McDonald’s, no Kentucky Fried Chicken, no Burger King,” says Cao de Benós, 45.
Every so often it’s the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Spain, asking if it’s finally all right to send over a wave of white shirts carrying the Book of Mormon, even though he knows that’s a non-starter. Only those religions that existed in Korea before the DPRK’s formation, in 1948, are allowed to operate in the country.
Sometimes a lead seems real enough that Cao de Benós can pass it up the ladder from his desk in Tarragona, on Spain’s northeast coast, to the North Korean embassy in Madrid – or even to his contacts in Pyongyang.
At first glance, the Dubai email was one of those. An Elena Sanchez was writing from an investment firm called Baron Stone Capital. Her boss, Adrian Hong, hoped to meet at the embassy to discuss investment opportunities, ideally in mining.
It might seem strange that a banker in Dubai would email a Spaniard to talk about investments in Pyongyang, but such is the idiosyncrasy of doing business with North Korea.
