Gràcies.
Gràcies.
No necessita auricular.
Vale.
Hello, hello.
Hello, hello, 123123.
My name is Alejandro Cadevenos, Special Delegate for the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries of the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Here we have today an interview to have with a London BBC Outlook program.
Vale, perfecte.
Molt bé.
Ara esperen.
Molt bé.
Has ja dit que passen la trucada a aquest al 123?
Sí, 123.
Proveré que estigui en la etiqueta a camarades.
Nole.
Nole.
Nole.
Nole.
Nole.
Nole.
Nole.
Gràcies.
Gràcies.
Gràcies.
Gràcies.
Gràcies.
Gràcies.
Gràcies.
Gràcies.
Gràcies.
Gràcies.
Bé, hi ha el Victrix, per dir...
Bé, és allà, hi ha les cafeteries al costat de la granja,
hem fet uns apartaments ara, a l'edifici on estàvem.
Però és que era de lluver, i vam marxar perquè l'edifici estava molt malestat,
s'enfonsava, a veure, quan anàvem pel passeig,
i preguntaves que el que s'ha de...
Sí.
Agafo?
No, me la passeu aquí.
Perfecte.
Sí, sí, soy yo, soy Alejandro.
Le he cogido directo.
Bien, bien, todo bien.
¿Estás listo, no, para empezar?
Sí, sí, todo listo.
Sí, sí, le escucho perfecto.
Le escucho por teléfono y hablo por micro.
Muy bien.
Ok.
Ok.
Ok.
Yes, hello.
Hello.
Yeah, you're welcome.
Yeah, yes, I can hear you well.
Yes, that's right.
Yes, they are recording my voice.
Ok, perfect.
Go ahead.
So, I come from aristocratic family.
My ancestors all served normally the Spanish crown, and during especially the times of the Spanish Empire, in the conquests in Latin America and Africa as well.
So, I can say that from my grandfather to my other ancestors, they have been normally related to the royalty and noblemen of Spain.
Not really.
My parents, like, broke with that tradition, since my father already was a normal worker.
He used to work as the chemical analyst for gas in Spain.
And my mom also was working as a secretary, she came from also a worker's family, so they were just normal people, medium class in Spain, and they kind of had a view of the world very different to that of my grandfather.
Well, it was 1991, exactly, and there was a group of North Koreans living in Madrid, because on that time, although there were no diplomatic relations between the PRK and Spain, it existed a kind of delegation for the World Tourism Organization.
And I had the chance to attend a conference and an exhibition that was held in Madrid, and during the visit to that exhibition, and I was 16 years old, I had the time and the chance to meet my first North Korean colleagues.
From there, my passion for Korea grew higher, and I started and decided myself to dedicate my life to work for the DPRK.
Well, almost everything.
First, of course, is politics.
I was studying different political countries, I mean systems, especially related to socialism.
I was convinced that to bring equality to the society, it can only be done through a communist system.
And among those communist systems, and especially on that time, that was the time of the perestroika, when the socialism was falling in Soviet Union, China, then I found the DPRK still wanted to continue with that kind of society.
So I felt very attracted for the strength of the Korean people, being such a small nation, and not only politically, but spiritually, and about the certain aspects of the human behavior that are lost in Western societies, like honor, discipline, commitment, respect for the family.
So, human values that are still preserved today in North Korea, and that I feel myself identify with.
Basically, to see that 80% of the world right now are living in poverty and starving and don't have access to clean water.
And see, of course, there are many people, volunteers, organizations, like Red Cross, that are doing a lot of work to try to help.
But this is a kind of temporary help.
I mean, really doesn't solve the problem that are in the roots of the system, in the corruption, in the civil wars, etc.
So I try to find out how I can help in something to change the world that is not just a temporary help, but try to destroy the root of this inequality.
On that purpose, then, is when I understood that only politics, only by changing a government, this situation can change on a long term.
Otherwise, as we can see, there are many, many good intentions from leaders of the world and from many people, but we still continue the same or even worse.
So I think this kind of inequality and this kind of unfair treatment of the human being can only be resolved by communism.
No, that's not happening right now.
The country had a terrible crisis from 1995 to year 2000-2001, due to several factors and external factors.
There was severe flooding in the country.
The country doesn't have enough land to grow crops, so it depends on imports.
And those imports are regulated by Chicago, where they manage and increase the price of the food for everybody and have to be paid in euro and dollar, which North Korea doesn't have because it's a socialist country.
So there was a big three main factors on floodings and dependence on importing from capitalist countries and increasing of the blockade from the U.S. that make the economy collapse in the country.
Luckily, this happened during that period, and now the country is recovering very fast.
Anyone that visited the country in the 90s and visited right now can witness the difference.
So that's not the situation, luckily, that we had in the 90s.
On the first time, I was helped by my Korean friends so as to sponsor part of my staying in the country, and I paid my tickets by working in a petrol station during the night.
Because I was a student, so I managed to save some funds to pay my tickets.
But what I found is what I really expected.
So not just a theory, not just a book, but a society where everybody is united like a big family and that feels like a leader is like a father of that big family of all the country.
So I could experience by myself what is it, Juche Idea, which is the Korean socialism, and what is Songun Principles.
And really, I felt myself at home.
And from that point, I mean, it was not only theory, but practice.
Since then, I've been visiting the country first once a year, and nowadays, I am six, seven times a year in the country.
No, I was with someone all the time on my first trip.
Surely it was a new person, a newcomer.
Oh, yes, sure, sure.
On the first time, you know, in North Korea, everything works by trust.
So trust cannot be, you know, built in one day or one month.
So it's a matter of years for me to be able, in this case, to be working for the North Korean government and to prove myself as a honest person, which nothing to hide, a trusted person.
In North Korea, it takes a very, very long time to win this confidence.
That's why, since ancient times, already was known as the Hermit Kingdom, because it's not something new.
It's that Korea has always to defend itself against the big empires, invasions, not only by the force of the arms, but cultural invasions.
And this continues until today.
One person has to prove that he is a honest person.
Well, they say basically that I was quite crazy and that I will have many problems.
I lost many friends on the way, and my family was very worried.
Especially on that time, there was a kind of, you know, a kind of prosecution over anyone who was a communist,
because even the communist people that existed on that time were changing parties and demonizing the communist ideas since USSR fell down.
And China, Vietnam were changing to a full capitalist economical system.
So it was very, very hard times in professional life, trying to find a work among friends and family members.
But as time passed and my family, my parents, my brother started to meet personally people from North Korea,
their opinion changed radically.
And then they understood that there was a lot of misinformation and a lot of sensationalism regarding the country.
And they supported me until today.
And now it's the opposite.
I mean, now everybody recognizes me in the streets, want to take a picture with me.
And I have a huge amount of people around the world that support my cause.
No, never. Absolutely.
So I am an IT consultant.
This has been my profession.
Until the year 2006, I've been working as the project manager for the Global Executive Master in Business Administration
in the ESA Business University in Barcelona.
So that has been my real work.
After 2006, 2007, I had the chance to find a life by myself through my international business contacts.
And nowadays I do import and export joint ventures.
That's my source for a living.
I never received a single cent, not from North Korea, not from any other country.
I remain independent in that sense.
Sure, sure.
That's part of...
It's taking more of my time because there is a huge international request about business possibilities.
As we know, now Western countries are in crisis.
And people don't know really...
Most markets are taken by big corporations.
And North Korea probably is one of the last countries where there is a huge array of possibilities for investment.
And both from international...
Yes, in some cases, yes.
But it doesn't need to be with North Korea.
I have many business friends in India or in Africa.
And it may be another kind of deal between third-party countries.
So it's not just from there.
Of course, we have to break them every day.
It's not that we try to break.
It's that we have to try to find a way for a living.
And it cannot be that the U.S. is dictating always the fate, economical fate of the world.
And DPI is a sovereign nation.
And even though originally the sanctions are aimed to military materials, they always try to do their best to block any kind of transactions.
Even if it's for clothing or it's for even food.
They will stop the ships or will try to stop any transactions to isolate and try to destroy the system.
So we have to use many other companies that we have all around the world, from China, Cambodia, or in Europe as well.
We have third-party companies and through them we are making all these deals.
No, no, that's not my responsibility.
That's not my field of action.
There are basically two things.
One, it's arms or weapons, which this depends absolutely in the Ministry of Defense of the Republic.
And the other is political relations.
Political relations are managed directly by the Workers' Party of Korea.
So I just assist by putting parties together, but I have nothing to do with arms or ammunition.
Yes, I had a chance to meet him on several occasions and shake his hand.
And as well, one time with Marshal Kim Jong-un.
But on a regular basis, my main – no, absolutely no – it's a person dedicated to its people.
So I can say that not only because I knew him, but I know almost all important cadres of the party and the government.
So from president, vice president, and ministers in the PRK.
And this is just sensationalism.
And if the PRK was so bad and the leaders were so brutal, as people pretend to say, the country will be gone by now.
There will be no country in the world that can sustain this kind of situation.
We witness in the history the case of Ceausescu and many other cases,
even people that were supposed to be friends of the West, like Gaddafi,
that two days later they were invaded and taken on the resources.
So media is playing a big part on this, on trying to demonize a country to justify an aggression.
But I don't want that everybody just believe my words, okay?
Just try to visit Korea, try to make friends with the North Korean people,
and the people can realize themselves.
Yes, that's right.
In several occasions, I sent the gifts and were received by him as appreciation.
In one occasion, I had a tea set, a porcelain tea set, handmade, delivered directly from him.
Yes, so he's basically the same, like President Kim Il-sung and Journalism of Kim Jong-il.
There is not going to be any change in politics or direction of the country.
As one also can read the statement recently released on August 25th, for example, on the day of Jong-un,
now Marshal Kim Jong-un is going to continue footsteps of his father and grandfather.
But it's important to know that the country is not ruled by one person.
This is an absolute mistake.
So we have all the marshals of the army.
We have the president and the senior members of the Supreme People's Assembly
who are the ones really next to him and who are really marking the direction of the country.
So people loved Marshal Kim Jong-un because he's continuing the instructions given by our great leaders.
And that's something that we can assure.
As long as we have Marshal Kim Jong-un, the PRK will continue its way to its own creation of own socialism.
And that's what we are saying.
Well, this is because the United Nations
and especially human rights organisations
are paid by the US government
and controlled by them.
We cannot forget how the UN Security Council
at the United Nations
was the one that justified the Korean War
that destroyed every single building in Korea.
United Nations is the one that justified the war on Iraq
on a base of weapons...
No, no, it's a body fully controlled...
No, no, absolutely.
Absolutely no.
As you can see, the Korean War
was precisely taken and approved
by this Security Council
on absence of the Soviet Union.
So they will always manipulate
and use this Security Council
and these United Nations
for their own profit or benefit.
And USA is the biggest superpower.
We know that, not only militarily,
but economically.
And unfortunately, many of these associations...
No, no, no, no.
No, we don't have...
We don't have concentration camps.
for the little crime that the country has,
which for sure is much less than in London
or any other European country,
where people don't usually steal your things
or try to kidnap children.
So this kind of phenomenon
that doesn't happen in the country,
but for the very few crime we have,
we believe that the people that commit a crime
has to pay it back to society
by harvesting rice
or by helping to build roads.
So they have to pay their crime by labor,
not by watching TV or taking drugs,
not by watching TV or taking drugs
like in UK or Spain.
So we believe in that kind of
pay back to society for a crime.
That's the difference.
But it has nothing to do with concentration camps
or trying to link it
to any kind of a Nazi era situation.
No, not at all.
Not at all.
This is not used.
Even during...
No, that's absolutely...
A South Korean just recently
has been shot for trying to escape
to North Korea, indeed.
And this has appeared in South Korean news.
These are the South Koreans,
the ones that are shooting
anyone who tried to cross the border.
And the border, we want to open it
since the end of the Korean War.
It is the United States,
the only one that is not interested
for reunification of Korea.
We are asking for that for centuries.
We are asking for a peace treaty for centuries.
In the moment that the U.S.
just agreed to sign a peace
to end the Korean War
and to open the borders,
we are ready for that.
We want that.
So it's not North Korean side.
This is a complete manipulation
and always changing the stories.
I invite anyone just to read the news
from South Korea
just three, four days ago
when precisely South Korean citizens
have been shot to death
for trying to pass to the North.
No, no, sorry.
They are not starving.
The country still needs food aid,
especially in calcium and vitamin C,
which are the things
that the country cannot produce.
The country is small
and barely has 15% of arable land.
For that reason,
the country is very rich in minerals
but very poor in vegetables and crops.
And we still need to import it,
paying hard currency.
So this is very difficult
for the government.
And then it's asking help
from other agencies.
But it's not starving, okay.
It's the lack of dietary requirements
in the food.
There is rice in the country.
There is soya.
But, for example,
we don't have oranges enough
or we don't have milk
because for a pest pasture,
for a cow,
you need one hectare of green lands
or you need a lot of cereal
just to feed a cow
to have a glass of milk.
And the country doesn't have that.
The country is very poor in vegetables.
It's mostly made of rock.
And if the United States
even release a little
their economic blockade
they are making against us,
we could export those minerals to Europe
or to even the United States.
And with that money,
we could buy more food by ourselves.
But the problem is that
they are trying just
to make the system collapse
because what they want
is to take over the country,
to take over the resources.
And people, yes, sure,
some people believe United Nations
but they think less and less every day
because they can witness
how France one day,
like Gaddafi,
became foes next day
and their gas and resources are taken.
I think this kind of a screen,
capitalist screen,
is falling down.
More people don't trust anymore
these kind of abuses.
I get my honor.
I get to fight what I believe in.
So I'm an idealistic person.
I have very clear
what are my objectives in life
and what I really want.
And I decided since I was so young
to fight for this equality.
and I think DPRK is the example
to follow that system for independence
and the socialism in the world.
So it's my ideas,
the one that drives me through this path.
I suffer a lot.
Now the situation is very different.
Well, this is what maybe you know very well,
our leaders,
better than me,
because this is not the truth.
This is not the truth
and I know personally
the secretary,
both of President Kim Il-sung
and our generalist,
Kim Jong-il.
So I know people very close to them
and I can meet them regularly
and that's not true.
But that, of course,
because you have leaders
in Western countries
that live like rich,
separated from the people
and that have accounts
in Switzerland or Panama,
it doesn't mean that
all the leaders in the world
are like that.
So again, I said,
people may believe,
may have their own mind
according to the kind of the propaganda
they may receive
from the Western media.
But if they come to Korea,
they ask North Koreans,
they will realize
how much our leaders are loved
by the people.
Yeah, I'm mostly,
most of the time
and my wish will be
to be there 100% of the time.
But because my work
will be to bring close North Korea
to the rest of the world,
this is my work
and to give interviews
like the BBC, for example.
So I have to go out of the country
from time to time
to do this work.
My work is as a bridge,
it's like an ambassador.
An ambassador inside the country
will do nothing
but my knowledge
of both the capitalist society
and Western mentality
and how our DPRK government works
put me in a very favorable position
to bring together companies,
diplomats,
or just regular people.
And that's my work,
that's my duty,
that's why I am in
and out of the country regularly.
Yes, that's right.
My Korean name is Chosonil,
which means Korea is one.
This name was given
by the president of the South Koreans
that escaped to the North.
Mr. Chosonil Min,
he was living in Busan in South Korea
and managed to escape to the North
and I have very good friendship
with all South Koreans
that passed to the North
and in one occasion
he baptized me with this name,
both because Chosonil means
Korea is one,
but Cho,
which is the surname
or family name,
is the same
like the one of my comrade,
which is Cho Il Min.
So Cho, Cho Il Min,
Cho, Chosonil.
That's why
here comes my Korean name.
Yeah, sure.
Indeed, I will send it
right away
if you don't mind.
Thanks to you.
A pleasure.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.