Alejandro Cao de Benós, who is Special Delegate for the Cultural Relations Committee of the Government of the DPR of Korea, leaves interviews with us regarding cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

There is constant information linking North Korea to attacks on different exchange houses in South Korea, but they are also linked to malware that hijacks systems, such as WannaCry. Much has been said about these fields, but we wonder if they operate with cryptocurrencies or if they have an interest in cryptocurrencies, but that, we have contacted Alejandro Cao de Benós, who is Special Delegate for the Relations Committee Cultural Government of the DPR Korea. The interview is published here in its entirety.

First of all, we want to thank you for dedicating a part of your time to us. We want to start by asking about North Korea's stance on cryptocurrencies. What do you think of these?

At the moment crypto is in the observation and study phase. Our government has not made an official statement in this regard, but there is a lot of interest in technology linked to the blockchain.

North Korea is constantly accused by the United States and South Korea, of carrying out different attacks on exchange houses, located in these countries, with the intention of obtaining through hacker attacks on them and stealing cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin. You already told us about this, but do you consider it an attack to undermine the credibility of the country?

Without a doubt, this is yet another campaign to demonize DPR Korea. As soon as a minimum of arguments is sought, the accusation does not stand, because even the IP's that are announced as the origin of the attacks are located in the US The question is that what really impacts are the big headlines, which give benefits to the media that publish them even though the information is pure fantasy.

The UN and the United States constantly establish economic sanctions on North Korea, is the government interested in cryptocurrencies, as a means of financing and thus bypassing economic sanctions?

Korea DPR has skipped economic sanctions since 1948, and as you know at that time there were no Spectrum 48s. The country cannot yet depend on cryptocurrencies in its international businesses due to its high volatility, but if more widespread adoption among entrepreneurs occurs in the future, then there will be no problem.

Regarding the use at the national level, only one of its own crypto would be accepted, since the rest are subject to tremendous capitalist speculation and manipulation of the whales (such as the implementation of the bitcoin futures).

Venezuela is currently finalizing the development of its own cryptocurrency, to bypass the US blockades, Russia seems to be also thinking of launching its own cryptocurrency and there are rumors that China could also implement a state cryptocurrency. Is North Korea considering developing its own cryptocurrency to bypass these blocks?

As I have commented, it is very possible, but it is still early, and our officers will closely observe the progress in these countries.

It has been rumored enough that China would be supporting North Korea regarding the mining of cryptocurrencies in the country, what is true at this point?

It should not be forgotten that almost 3 million Chinese citizens are of the Korean race and that we have thousands of businesses linked between the two countries. And with so many mines run by Chinese businessmen, obviously there is a close relationship.

The cryptocurrency market is a reality and it is a growing industry, especially because of blockchain technology, which can be an alternative solution to government or industry problems. Is North Korea working on something related to blockchain technology? If so, could you tell us something?

It is working and not only with national engineers. We are preparing exchanges and collaboration with world experts in this field. North Korea is a sovereign republic, far from the tentacles of the International Monetary Fund or the World Trade Organization, and this is attracting minds that want to develop safe and off-the-radar projects.