[8] In April 2022, the US Department of Justice charged Cao de Benós "with conspiring to violate United States sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

In 1993, during his stay in the Granada town of La Zubia, he registered the friendship association with North Korea "9 de Septiembre" as a cultural organization.

[5][8] He has written numerous articles on matters relating to the political situation in the Korean Peninsula, dissemination of state propaganda as well as giving press interviews.

Cao de Benós is featured in the documentaries Friends of Kim, The Propaganda Game and The Mole: Undercover in North Korea.

In July 2016, Cao de Benós founded a bar called Pyongyang Cafe in Tarragona, which is decorated with North Korean propaganda posters and features regular talks on subjects such as tourism.

[17] Cao de Benós has been the subject of widespread criticism from the Western press for, among other things, trying to restrict freedom of expression of journalists.

[5][20] Cao de Benós has been criticized for charging more than twice as much as other tour organizers to bring filmmakers, artists and tourists to North Korea.

[5][20] In 2020, an unpublished report by the UN Panel of Experts denounced Cao de Benós for violating UN sanctions by facilitating a joint venture between the DPRK and KFA.