Korean Friendship Association

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The Korean Friendship Association (KFA, Spanish: Asociación de Amistad con Corea) is a rather odd group of people who describe themselves as having the purpose of building international ties with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and to "Show the reality of the DPR Korea to the world."^[1] This is, of course, a nice way of saying, "Parrot Stalin apologism to the world on behalf of a despotic rogue regime".

Thus far, their main achievement appears to be constructing a website — using the latest in 1990s web design techniques (though recently updating to a more modern web design style) trying to prove North Korea is a really great place to live (hint, it isn't).

They present a bizarre version of reality in which North Korea is a bastion of "peace, friendship, and independence" and the unfortunate victim of imperialistic conspiracies to prevent the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula.^[2] The line taken by the KFA is pretty much what one would expect to hear from any DPRK government agency.

Leadership[edit]

Cao de Benós enjoying beautiful downtown Pyongyang

The founder and current president of the KFA is a Spanish man named Alejandro Cao de Benós de Les y Pérez, who was born in 1974 to an aristocratic family and enjoys dressing in military uniforms and posing for pictures with North Koreans.^[3] (Ladies love a man in uniform, especially when the alternative is a forced labor camp.)

When he was a teenager, Cao de Benós first became interested in the North Korean regime (i.e., during the late 1980s-early 1990s) and came to know some North Korean families in Madrid.^[4] Somehow, the brainwashed North Koreans managed to infect Cao de Benós with their homemade brand of crazy, and the rest is history. Unlike most commie teens, this confused tankie never grew out of that phase. Cao de Benós is also kind of special (no, not that kind of "special") in that he's the only person in the organization to get paid a salary (seems like something very capitalist, don't you think).^[5][6] The president is also unique in being the first foreigner to work in an official capacity for the government of the DPRK and is a holder of the much coveted "Friendship Medal" — awarded to him by Kim Jong Il. In a sign of fanboyishness, Cao de Benós has also given himself a Korean name, Hangul: 조선일, Hanja/Chinese characters: 朝鮮一, Revised Romanization used by South Korea: Jo Seon Il, McCune–Reischauer romanization used by North Korea: Cho Sŏn-il, Translation: "Joseon/Chosŏn/Korea [is] one. Cao de Benós himself spells his name as "Zo Sun Il".^[5][6] Despite what Cao de Benós claims, the KFA is NOT officially linked to the North Korean government, and the KFA website (korea-dpr.com) is NOT the official North Korean government website.^[5][6]

On 14 June 2016, Cao de Benós was arrested by the Spanish Guardia Civil (Civil Guard, essentially armed military police) for arms trafficking (probably sending them to North Korea).^[7] He is now forbidden from leaving Spain for this offense (so he can't seek asylum in North Korea). In July 2016, Cao de Benós took his raging semi toward North Korea even further and opened "Pyongyang Cafe", a North Korean-themed bar in Tarragona, Spain.^[8] In January 2017, the bar only opened on weekends because it was too expensive to run the rest of the week. In March 2017, the bar was closed to non-KFA members (so no one could spread the truth about the dump that is North Korea).^[9] As of 2022, Cao de Benós was wanted by the FBI for "Conspiracy to Violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)" after he was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice.^[10][11]

Activities[edit]

The group seeks to "aid" the reunification process, primarily by helping the world realize that the DPRK is actually a nice country and the best thing that ever happened to Korea and that Kim Jong-un is not so much a deranged despot — more a benevolent and wise leader. They organize trips to North Korea for tourism and business reasons. The gallery on the site shows photos of their many trips to the dear leader's communist paradise — many of which would be quite funny if they were not glossing everything else about the regime. Although the militaristic elements of the regime are not ignored, there's certainly scant mention of the widespread starvation and oppression of most North Koreans.

The group also leads activities in Western countries to protest the "unfair" treatment of the DPRK. The images of these protests would suggest that the KFA has more banners and flags than actual members.^[12]

Surely this is a parody!?[edit]

Unfortunately, no. While flirting with Marxism during the college years is not unusual, actually hardening towards endorsing Stalinism is rare (and it's almost impossible to find no-bullshit supporters of Juche). The KFA appears to be made up of those who not only failed to snap out of said college romances but who indeed never matured notably beyond high school.^[13]

The KFA has been referenced in press releases from the DPRK, so assuming that Kim Jong Il wasn't a master parodist, it must be concluded that the group is for real. Whether the KFA is aware of the less pleasant side of North Korea is unclear, but indeed the standard practice in North Korea is to ensure that tourists are steered away from parts of the country that the dear leader does not wish them to see.^[14]

One North Korean expert believes that the fanboys are simply critics of US domestic and foreign policy, but to the extent that they're willing to "join their enemy’s enemy."^[15]

Alternative interpretation[edit]

It's all a scam, designed to fleece travelers to North Korea (whether supporters, journalists, common folks who are simply curious, or others) with overpriced trips (the fees for them being paid for some time to Cao de Benós's personal bank account and later to a Chinese KFA bank account) which offer much less than what "normal" (read, real) travel agencies do, never mind someone who is supposed to have special connections with the North Korean government that would bring special perks for the "association" and its customers.^[6]

Members and former members of the KFA tell the story of an "untrustworthy, ill-tempered" leader. He "exploit[s] the closed and secretive nature of North Korea" while being the only person to receive a salary from the association and attracting disenchantment even inside the KFA.^[6] No one has ever seen a KFA balance sheet or financial account.^[6]

See also[edit]

• Useful idiot

External links[edit]

• Official Website of the Korean Friendship Association
• USA chapter of the Korea Friendship Association (KFAUSA)
• Citizen Smith, IMDB - Life sometimes imitates art.
• Pyongyang Cafe's official page
• Promotional web video for the Korean Friendship Association's package tours of North Korea

References[edit]