North Korean Crypto scam? P1

Summary

Podcast Summary: "What I Survived"

Episode: North Korean Crypto Scam? P1

Host: Jack Laurence
Date: March 31, 2026

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Main Theme / Purpose

In this gripping episode, host Jack Laurence dives into the remarkable and perilous story of Christopher Ems, a British man now living in Russia and wanted by the FBI. Ems stands accused of helping North Korea evade international sanctions through cryptocurrency. Laurence retraces Ems’s journey—from his humble beginnings to his fateful trip to Pyongyang for a cryptocurrency conference—offering first-hand stories, expert context, and a sobering look at the risks of working in the world’s political gray zones.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. From British Suburbs to the FBI Wanted List

[06:51–08:48]

• Christopher Ems introduces himself as a well-traveled Englishman, not the archetypal “criminal mastermind.”
• Early life in Guildford, England; grew up on Spain’s Costa del Sol; lived in Gibraltar, Malta, Berlin, Dubai, and now Moscow.
• Tech was not Ems’ original passion—he trained for theatre, with aspirations to direct plays, but financial realities pushed him to seek “a real job,” eventually leading into tech and crypto.

Notable Quote:
“My main passion then was actually theatre…really tech wasn’t something that instinctively I wanted to get involved in.”
—Christopher Ems [08:04]

2. How a Missed Phone Bill Introduced Him to Bitcoin

[09:20–14:52]

• Ems’s entry into cryptocurrency started almost by accident:
  • A friend skipped out on a mobile phone contract payment, offering to pay Ems back in Bitcoin (valued at around €600 / about 1 bitcoin at the time).
  • Ems didn’t know what Bitcoin was nor how to cash it out, so he left it in his digital wallet.
  • While working at Wavecrest in Gibraltar, the only company then providing crypto debit cards, he rediscovered his Bitcoin, which had risen in value.
  • He invested in Ethereum at $3/coin, which eventually skyrocketed to ~$800.
• These “lucky breaks” laid the foundation for his deeper involvement in crypto.

Notable Quote:
“That was the best deal I ever did with someone, was taking his phone bill on, that’s for sure.”
—Christopher Ems [14:23]

3. Crypto’s Wild West and a Fortune Lost

[14:52–16:24]

• After Wavecrest, Ems tried starting a compliance and regulation-focused crypto business (“vastly unsuccessful”).
• He was eventually recruited as Head of Business Development for Bitcoin.com by Roger Ver (“Bitcoin Jesus”).
• At the 2017 crypto peak, Ems recalls being a “paper millionaire," but ignored advice to cash out and lost almost everything.

Notable Quote:
“I probably had enough money never to work again in my life. And [then] I went down to about $2,000.”
—Christopher Ems [16:24]

4. The Fateful Invitation: North Korea Calls

[18:31–22:54]

• While at Bitcoin.com, Ems received a LinkedIn message from Alejandro Cao de Benós, a Spanish national prominent in North Korea’s foreign lobbying efforts via the Korean Friendship Association (KFA).
• De Benós invited Ems to speak at a blockchain conference in Pyongyang.
• Ems checked with the British Embassy—the reply: they didn’t recommend the trip but said it wasn’t illegal.
• The conference group included Virgil Griffith, notable for his work with Ethereum and later arrested for his activities in North Korea.
• Griffith had applied for, and been denied, US State Department permission to make the trip—but traveled anyway.

Notable Quote:
“Looking back on, [attending a conference in North Korea] was probably something that I should have thought twice about. But at the time, I thought, ‘Wow, that’s very, very interesting.’”
—Christopher Ems [21:25]

5. Arrival in Pyongyang: Surreal Tourism and Risks

[24:51–33:45]

• The group arrived in a seemingly “play-acting” North Korean airport; highly staged, suspiciously devoid of travelers.
• Emphasis on strict rules for visitors—no pornography, no disrespectful memes, etc.
• One group member (referred to as “Mr. Porno”) was caught with an explicit video on his laptop, resulting in all attendees being placed “under suspicion” and having their passports confiscated for the trip.
• For the next days, the group was shepherded on propaganda-heavy tours and tightly supervised.
• Ems describes the experience in the hotel, constant chaperoning, and bars serving “surprisingly good” beer—but always with a sense of underlying risk.

Notable Quote:
“Thank you so much, Mr. Porno. Right, then… you don’t have your passport now and you’re in North Korea. Not a great feeling.”
—Christopher Ems [28:09]

6. Tales of Caution: The Otto Warmbier Story

[29:24–32:09]

• Laurence segues to the cautionary US case of Otto Warmbier, an American student arrested for a prank in a North Korean hotel—a reminder of the severe dangers of even small infractions.
• Ems notes his group’s hotel was different, and he and others remained cautious even when drinking.

Notable Quote:
“You would have to be confident with yourself when you’re pissed to get drunk in North Korea going, you know what? I won’t do anything stupid.”
—Jack Laurence [32:57]

7. The Conference: Anti-Climax or Criminal?

[34:09–34:29]

• The actual cryptocurrency conference was “monotonously boring,” with attendees reading what seemed like “absolute garbage”; Ems downplays any intent or content of value, setting up the forthcoming controversy.
• But the US authorities saw it very differently.

Notable Quote:
“We’ve got these pieces of paper that don’t make any sense and we’re, you know, reading along this absolute garbage.”
—Christopher Ems [34:20]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Why is it never anything simple?” —Jack Laurence on hearing about Ems’s case [03:30]
• “I woke up one day and I thought, you know, I need to get a real job. I can’t keep living like this.” —Christopher Ems [08:55]
• “You get ten shots at entering the correct password. After that, the account locks up. So far, Thomas has tried eight times…his $225 million fortune will be gone forever.” —Jack Laurence on bitcoin mishaps [12:00]
• “He [Alejandro Cao de Benós] is also, according to himself, the special delegate of North Korea’s Committee of Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries.” —Jack Laurence [20:03]
• “We’re taking all your passports away now because you’re under suspicion because of Mr. Porno.” —Christopher Ems [27:23]
• “All our passports are taken from us…not a great feeling, but, you know, we’ve got another eight days here.” —Christopher Ems [28:09]
• “They dealt with [Mr. Porno] in quite a polite way…‘This is not tolerated, but we’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.’” —Christopher Ems [33:45]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [06:51] — Christopher Ems’s background and unexpected entry into crypto
• [09:20] — The Bitcoin debt repayment that changed everything
• [14:52] — Leaving Wavecrest and chasing (then losing) a crypto fortune
• [18:31] — The fateful LinkedIn message from North Korea’s foreign affairs figurehead
• [22:54] — Griffith’s background and the group’s trek to Pyongyang
• [24:51] — Arrival in North Korea; the staged reality of Pyongyang
• [27:05] — “Mr. Porno” incident and its repercussions
• [29:24] — Otto Warmbier, the cautionary American case
• [34:09] — The anticlimactic cryptocurrency conference

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Upcoming…

The episode ends on a cliffhanger: the group attends the conference, but the FBI sees sinister intent—hinting at further developments and consequences. Part 2 promises deep dives into the US government’s interpretation of their actions and what branded Ems as “wanted.”

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Tone & Style

The episode is conversational, candid, and at times darkly humorous—balancing in-depth firsthand recounting (Ems) with Laurence’s skeptical, fascinated, and sometimes anxious narration. Both acknowledge the surreal and often dangerous situations with a dry wit and sense of foreboding.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode is a mesmerizing introduction to the ordeal of Christopher Ems: a man propelled by happenstance deep into the fraught intersection of crypto, diplomacy, and global law. It’s a cautionary tale about luck, recklessness, and the explosive potential of seemingly innocent events in a dangerous world. Listeners are left awaiting the story’s next twists and the full collision between crypto idealism and geopolitics.

Transcript

[A]

Hello Legends. Before we get into the episode, just a quick heads up if you have completed Season one of what I Survived. Firstly, thank you for the incredible support for the show and all the lovely comments. I truly appreciate it. I'm madly working on season two, which will be out for you very soon. In the meantime though, I have just dropped listed as season two in what I Survived a previous show that I created a couple of years ago called Wanted. The entire show is there for you to binge while you wait for season two of what I Survived.

[B]

Hello hello, it's Brooke Devard from Naked Beauty. Join me each week for unfiltered discussion about beauty trends, self care, journeys, wellness tips, and the products we absolutely love

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and cannot get enough of.

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If you are a skincare obsessive and you spend 20 plus minutes on your skincare routine, this podcast is for you. Or if you're a newbie at the beginning of your skincare journey, you'll love

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this podcast as well.

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Because we go so, so much deeper than beauty. I talk to incredible and inspiring people from across industries about their relationship with beauty. You'll also hear from skincare experts.

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We break down lots of myths in the beauty industry.

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If this sounds like your thing, search for naked beauty on your podcast app and listen along. I hope you'll join us. A rich life isn't a straight line to a destination on the horizon. Sometimes it takes an unexpected turn, with detours, new possibilities, and even another passenger or three. And with 100 years of navigating ups and downs, you can count on Edward Jones to help guide you through it all. Because life is a winding path made rich by the people you walk it with. Let's find your rich together. Edward Jones Member SIPC

[A]

ACAST powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend this

[B]

season on the Dream. Supplies are being provided by nurses who run out in the middle of the night and purchase diapers, but the hospital

[C]

is still charging as if they still have these items.

[B]

We are digging into every topic we've ever wanted to cover on this show. It's a spinning plate analogy.

[A]

The second that you stop spinning those plates, that crashes.

[B]

So you can never stop working. The Dream Season 4 comes at you weekly. Starting Monday, January 20th.

[A]

Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com so the man who sparked this series, Chad Hauer, and I have remained in contact since our initial interview many months ago. Once I'd made the decision to create a new series about wanted men and Women. I of course, decided to ask Chad if he might know anyone else who was on the FBI's wanted list. And, well, what do you know? He did. Okay, I have a message from Chad. I sent a message. I was obviously wanting to see if he knew anyone else that might be wanted and he's just sent me a text now look, yes, I do know a guy wanted by the FBI. Currently English guy, now living in Russia. Oh dear. Chad sent me a message one morning to let me know he knew a guy who was indeed wanted by the FBI for supposedly helping another country avoid global sanctions with cryptocurrency. That country, North Korea. Oh, well, that's not good. Jesus Christ. Why is it never anything simple? I found myself yet again starting to have similar concerns as I did before I decided to speak with Chad. I mean, speaking to an American who's been involved in an insane custody battle was one thing, but someone who's supposedly been in cahoots with one of the world's most infamous and secretive dictatorships was something else. Breaking news. Overnight, North Korea test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile. The missile, which fell into the sea off Japan, is thought to be capable of reaching the continental US Rocket man. Should have been handled a long time ago. North Korea wasting no time in retaliating. Official state media saying the north launched two cruise missiles on the eve of the drills from a submarine off North Korea's coast. But if it is forced to defend

[C]

itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.

[A]

His foreign minister said the regime is planning to test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific. Something the US isn't sure North Korea has the capacity to do, but officials

[B]

admit would be a game changing escalation if attempted.

[A]

Have I taken this too far? Will I ever indeed myself be able to travel the world again? Who was this guy? All questions I decided needed to be answered. I find that whole side of things fascinating too, because I find North Korea. I mean, I probably would have been the same as you if I got invited to go there.

[C]

I would have been like, please, please don't. Please, please don't go, mate. Please don't go.

[A]

My name's Jack Lawrence. Welcome to Wanted. I'm a wanderer of the soul before the end I plan to behold But I know I lose myself along the way what's gone is gone what's past is past.

[C]

Let me leave.

[A]

What belongs in. The FBI's most wanted list is not a list that is just reserved for American citizens. In fact, if you jump onto the website right now. And start scrolling through the multitude of mugshots. You'll come across a whole host of other foreign nationals. Russians, Chinese, Iranians, Saudis, Ukrainians even. And a British man named Christopher Ems. I'm from the UK as well, so I'm originally from Croydon.

[C]

Okay. I'm from Guildford, my mum's from Red hill. So literally 15 minutes from you.

[A]

Yes. This apparent criminal mastermind of crypto and friend of North Korea was in fact an extremely nice, polite, well spoken man from a small town not too far from my own hometown in the United Kingdom. So just how does someone like Christopher Ems end up on the FBI's wanted list for claims of counterintelligence? Well, like the rest of our stories, we start from the very beginning.

[C]

I'm from the uk. I was born in a place called Guildford, which is just south of London. For anyone at home that isn't familiar, it's a small city and so I spent sort of my former years there. And then I actually grew up in the south of Spain on the Costa del Sol. So that was lovely. Moved back to the UK when I was 16 to do my A levels and then I sort of dotted around the world, lived back in a place called Gibraltar, which is near sort of a British territory in the south coast of Spain. Lived in Malta for a while as well, lived in Berlin in Germany, which was fun, and, and then in Dubai, and now obviously here in lovely Moscow, sunny Moscow actually today for a change.

[A]

So Chris is a well traveled man, but now calls Russia home. When you wanted by the FBI, you really need to avoid any country with an extradition treaty, even if that means your own country of birth. You'd be forgiven for thinking that a guy who would go on to be accused of helping North Korea use cryptocurrency to avoid sanct would be some sort of child tech prodigy. But that's not quite the case with Chris, who had other aspirations. As a young guy, I used to

[C]

like our IT classes at school, but I don't think that taught me much. But my main passion then was actually theatre. So when I was younger there I was in sort of an English speaking theatre group. I spent most of my time leaving school, going and rehearsing, spending my whole weekends rehearsing for whatever different shows they had they were putting on. So really my life until I was sort of in my early 20s was all about theater. It's what I studied once I left school. So really tech wasn't something really that instinctively I wanted to get involved in. It was more I wanted to, in the end, wanted to direct plays, but I ended up here.

[A]

Well, I would imagine there's possibly more money in tech and crypto than there is in directing plays.

[C]

That was the driving force, I think. I lived at the time in London when I was a trainee theatre director above a Portuguese restaurant on the South Lamberth Road in London, where there was mold on the walls, there was mold on the shower. And I woke up one day and I thought, you know, I need to get a real job. I can't keep living like this.

[A]

That proper job would end up being in the crypto sphere. But the road into the world of cryptocurrency was really a mixture of luck and. And odd coincidences, which all began with a mobile phone plan.

[C]

I was living in Berlin in Germany. I was working for a number of different tech startup businesses there. And there was a guy that was working with me who was from the US and he'd just moved to Berlin. Now, in Germany you get kind of like, I'm sure it's the same in Australia, same in the uk. You get a credit rating, and with that credit rating, it allows you to take out, get a credit card or even a mobile phone contract. And, you know, this was the days when mobile phone contracts were expensive, not like they are now. So this guy said to me, hey, you've got a credit rating in Germany. You've been here six months. Will you put it in your name? And I said, yeah, okay, mate, no problem. So I put the thing in his name. He wanted the full whack plan, which I think was about €100amonth, which back then, for me, I think I was earning about probably over just over €1,000amonth. It was €400 for the rent. And the rest went on what every man spends his money on in his early 20s, mainly going to bars, meeting girls and having a good time. So this guy left the company pretty soon after and disappeared, and I was stuck with this phone bill that was hard for me to pay. So eventually I tracked this guy down and I'm like, look, dude, you owe me this. You owe me the money for your phone bill, and I really need it. So he said, oh, can I pay you in Bitcoin? And I was like, what the hell's that? And I was like, okay. I was like, I'm never going to track this guy down. Goodness knows where he lives right now. I found him on, I think, Facebook or whatever it was we were using at the time. And so he sent me, whatever the value, I think he sent me €600 of Bitcoin at the value of 2015. So I think it was around 1. Bitcoin may have been a bit more.

[A]

Bitcoin is a form of cryptocurrency, or online crypto currency. There's hundreds of them out there. It's not regulated. There's no banks involved. That's why people can invest, trade and cash in all from their smartphone. So bitcoin by now is a household name. Everyone has heard of it, but almost as many people still have no idea what it's all about, other than it's an apparent digital currency that has made certain people extremely wealthy.

[C]

I'm sitting in this bed in the

[B]

studio apartment and I just became a millionaire.

[A]

Bitcoin first hit the Internet around 2008 when the domain name bitcoin.org was registered, apparently created by a person or persons who used the name Satoshi Nakamoto. Now, before you start panicking and thinking, I'm about to do a big deep dive and trying to explain cryptocurrency and blockchains, it's not happening here. But as we all know, during the peak madness of the world of COVID in 2021, Bitcoin skyrocketed. In fact, it hit a value of $66,975 for just one bitcoin. Story after story emerged of people becoming instant multimillionaires. He became a millionaire at 24, all by investing in bitcoin. Sad stories of people who'd lost their passwords to their wallets to unlock incredible fortunes. Bitcoin is a super secure system. You get 10 shots at entering the correct password. After that, the account automatically locks up. So far, Thomas has tried eight times at guessing his password. That means he has two more shots. After that, his $225 million fortune will be gone forever. More and more coins began to emerge with people all around the world, yours truly included, buying into the hype and hoping to become the next crypto millionaire. However, before all this madness, Chris, with his wallet of just over one bitcoin at the time, not knowing anything about it, was just trying to work out how to get rid of it. But little did he know that this odd little bitcoin that he's been lumped with would end up becoming a big part of his life in the future.

[C]

I'm sat there and I'm looking, I'm like, how can I cash this bitcoin rubbish out? I need, you know, I need the cash. I couldn't figure out how to do it, to be honest. So I just thought, oh, well, I'll just leave it here. Anyway, Fast forward to 2016, it must have been. So I end up getting a job in Gibraltar for a company called Wavecrest. Now, Wavecrest isn't around now, but at the time Wavequest was just really. I'd say my life is a lot of random luck and coincidences. Wavecrest at the time was the only debit card issuer of cryptocurrency debit cards. So what that means is you could load the card with bitcoins and you could use it to buy things in a normal shop. So I was like, oh, okay, I know. So I think I've got a bitcoin. So started working there, started working with, at the time, the only cryptocurrency custodian business, which is a company called Zappo. And eventually I thought, I'll log into that account where I've got this bitcoin, and this is around 2016. And I went, oh, that's worth a lot more than 500 bucks now. Then I saw this thing on, I think it was Coinbase, probably it was around then, so I think that was where I had it. And I saw this thing called Ethereum that was trading at $3 and I thought, well, I still can't figure out, to cash it out, I'll have a punt on that Ethereum thing. So fast forward a bit longer. 2017, that Ethereum thing went from $3 to about, I can't remember now, about $800. So that's an 800x on $500. You can do the math on that one. So, yeah, that was the best deal I ever did with someone was taking his phone bill on, that's for sure. So, yeah, so I left wavecrest in 2017 and I left from Wavecrest.

[A]

Chris's life in the world of crypto really begins as he leaves the company in 2017 to set up his own business looking at regulation and compliance in this world, which, he says in his own words, was a vastly unsuccessful business, because essentially back then the world of crypto was the Wild west. And not many people were overly interested in, shall we say, being overtly transparent about their dealings within it. From there, Chris does more work in the space and eventually would take a meeting with a man called Roger Ver, referred to by many as Bitcoin Jesus, as he's known to be one of the first ever investors in bitcoin. Roger had a company called Bitcoin.com and invited Chris to join as head of Business development. Now, I know what you must be thinking, okay, this is all very interesting, but what about Chris's own crypto fortune? Are you talking to one of those crypto millionaires?

[C]

Absolutely not. So in 2018, I think at one point, I won't tell you how much I was worth on paper, but it was a significant amount of money. But I was. I was very young. I didn't really understand that. And I remember meeting a friend of mine I went to school with. Her dad's quite a successful entrepreneur in the uk, And I used to have lunch with him. And I had lunch with him one time and he said, chris, this is a bubble cash out. And I looked at him and I went, man, this is going to go. This is going to the moon. I'm not going to sell any of it. Of course, he was entirely right. So I remember within three days, I probably had enough money never to work again in my life. And I went down to about $2,000.

[A]

So we're going to take a short break, and when we come back, While working for Bitcoin.com, chris would get an email from someone with a very bizarre offer. An offer that would see him becoming a wanted man. I'm a wanderer of the soul. Before the end, I plan to be whole But I know I'll lose myself along the way. What's. ACAST powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend.

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I'm Jameela Jamil, and guests on my new podcast, Wrong Turns share their most mortifying and hilarious disaster stories. I'm talking people like Mae Martin, Bob the Drag Queen, Katherine Ryan, Jake Johnson, Margaret Cho, Simon Pegg, Penn Badgley, and so many more. So listen wherever you get your podcast. Wrong Terms where dignity goes to die.

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Acast.com what does it mean to live a rich life? It means brave first leaps, tearful goodbyes, and everything in between. With over 100 years experience navigating the ups and downs of the market and of life, your Edward Jones financial advisor will be there to help you move ahead with confidence. Because with all you've done to find your rich, we'll do all we can to help you keep enjoying it. Edward Jones Member, SIPC.

[A]

Christopher Ems is a British man currently living in Moscow. In Russia, he's a man currently wanted by the FBI. And it all began while working for the company Bitcoin.com where he was working with partnerships and development, dealing with companies all around the world, building partnerships, when one day he gets an email.

[C]

So pretty much back then, I would say yes to pretty much anything because I just found things interesting. I was a young guy, and as you do when you're in your sort of early to mid-20s, you do say yes to most things if they're offered. Back in, I Guess it was 2018, I got a LinkedIn message from a gentleman by the name of Alejandro Calde Benos, who's now infamous.

[A]

Alejandro Co Debenos. It's a name that I would say not many have heard before. However, this is where my podcast worlds in fact collide, because in my show One Minute Remaining, where I interview men and women incarcerated in the United States, I also do bonus episodes speaking to others who have been incarcerated around the world. For one of these episodes, I sat down with an incredibly interesting man named Jim Lautrache, a man who would infiltrate North Korea going undercover for a documentary. And his main point of contact was, yes, that's right, Alejandro Kaul de Benos.

[C]

My dream was always and is always being a member of For Korean People's army since I was so young.

[A]

So who is this man? Well, we don't have the time to go completely down this rabbit hole, but In a nutshell, Mr. DeBeno is a Spanish national who is a special representative of the Foreign Ministry of North Korea. He is also, according to himself, the special delegate of North Korea's Committee of Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. He's also the founder of the Korean Friendship association, or the kfa. The kfa, as an organization, has a global reach with branches across the world in Brazil, Canada, the United States, the UK and Australia. If you want to learn more about the bizarre world of the KFA and Mr. DeBeno, I would urge you to watch the amazing documentary the Mole. Alejandro Caulda Benos and Christopher Emes have something in common. They are both now wanted by the FBI and in fact, named on this same indictment where the US Claims that they conspired with Virgil Griffith, a cryptocurrency expert and citizen of the United States, to illegally provide cryptocurrency and blockchain technology services to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. But more on that very soon.

[C]

And he said, look, I'm doing a. I want to do a cryptocurrency blockchain conference in Pyongyang, North Korea. Would you be interested in attending and, you know, I had the reaction that, you know, looking back on, it was probably something that I should have thought twice about. But at the time, I thought, wow, that's very, very interesting. I've been watching the news. Donald Trump shaking the guy's hand. I think at that time, I think most of the world thought, this is probably the last time I'm going to get to see North Korea as we've seen it on the TV and on all the documentaries on YouTube. So I said, yeah, okay, no problem. That would be very interesting.

[A]

However, before he ups and grabs his passport and toothbrush to jet off to North Korea, he actually decided that he should probably check to make sure this isn't going to get him in any sort of trouble. Kind of ironic, really.

[C]

So what I did then is I thought, right, well, I'm not entirely dumb. So I thought, right, I'll message the British Embassy, say, hey, planning to come to this conference? What's your take on it? And they said, look, we don't recommend you coming to North Korea, but there's nothing illegal about you doing it. So I was like, okay, fine. Obviously, looking back, hindsight's a wonderful thing, right? Maybe it wasn't the right thing to do. But off we went anyway. So 2019, hopped on a plane to China. It was April, I believe. Got my visa at the North Korean embassy in Beijing, and then sort of met this random group of people that had been assembled that wanted to attend. One of the people is now obviously someone who at the time was obviously quite famous in the crypto world, but is now globally infamous, a man called Virgil Griffith.

[A]

Virgil Griffith, unlike Chris, is a bit of a computer genius, having studied cognitive science at university and graduating with honours. Looking at his background, he's certainly had a colorful past in the world of tech, but he's mostly known for his work with the cryptocurrency ethereum. Virgil had actually done something similar to Chris. Prior to leaving the United States, he'd requested permission to travel to North Korea for this conference. This request had been denied. Now, looking at the US Department of State website, it says that all US Passports are invalid for travel to, in, or through the DPRK unless specially validated for such travel under the authority of the Secretary of State. Special validations are granted only in very limited circumstances. From court documents in the case against Virgil, they state that In January of 2019, he applied to the State Department for permission to travel to the dprk, informing them that he would be speaking at a cryptocurrency conference. About, and they quote, the applications of blockchain technology to businesses and anti corruption. They then go on to state that Griffith was determined to attend despite the denial and sought the approval of the DPRK UN mission in Manhattan. He sent the mission copies of his cv, passport and explained his desire to attend the conference. He was granted a visa a month later. Unaware of all of this information, Chris and the rest of the group, along with Virgil, were off to North Korea.

[C]

We jumped on the plane to Pyongyang. We arrived in Pyongyang. Now, it's a really weird place, Jack. So you get to the airport in Pyongyang. It's a brand new airport, right? It looks beautiful, right? But there's no one there. So it's exactly like you've seen in all the documentaries, right?

[A]

It's like the whole thing's a play and there's actors just walking around playing the parts of normal citizens.

[C]

And so it very much feels like that. So we got to the airport, we arrived. You go through immigration as you would anywhere in the world, not very different. You've got a grumpy immigration officer looks at you, stamps your passport, pick up your baggage. One of the interesting things that happened is we went through before Alejandro had told us, or I think it was someone from the embassy in North Korea. Okay, There's a. There's a few no nos. They're pretty simple no no's. You'd expect this in any kind of country of a similar ilk. You'd even expect this in Saudi Arabia. Don't bring any porn in. Don't bring any. Any sort of memes that depict the leader as, you know, an idiot or whatever you want. No, no Kim Jong Un memes and, you know, that basic kind of stuff. But that's kind of basic stuff. I think even if you flew into pretty much anywhere in the world like that, you. You probably. That's common sense, right? You're not going to do that. So this is where it gets very strange. So we get to the airport and they do. And I've had this at airports across the world traveling. And it wasn't particularly peculiar. And it was something I expected. As soon as you get there, the immigration officers, once you've got your luggage, they have a customs thing and they go through your phone and your laptop, check, you know, your pictures or whatever. I've had that happen. I mean, I think, you know, I think I even had that happen in the US one. So we go through. And I didn't realize this at the time. But we were told as soon as we got to the hotel, one of the gentlemen on the trip, who's an Argentinian gentleman, who becomes very interesting in this case later on, and I've never revealed this, this is an exclusive view. He decided to bring in, let's just say, a. How would you describe this? A home video of a pornographic nature which he had deliberately tried to hide on his laptop as some sort of game he was playing with the North Korean authorities.

[A]

Definitely not the start to the trip. You would want a word of warning to anyone who might be considering travelling to North Korea. This is not a place that you want to try and test the authorities. And this little stunt pulled by Mr. Porno meant that the entire group now was placed under suspicion.

[C]

So the way it works is exactly like any documentary you've seen. So you have three guides with you. You have one senior guide. It was actually a really nice blow to why he was very nice to us. Anyway, he was a guy who spoke. It was very interesting because I speak Spanish, so a lot of the group didn't. Apart from this, actually, it's Argentinian blood. He's the only other one could speak to the guy properly. So he spoke Spanish with a very, very strong Bolivian accent. He told me he lived in Bolivia. Really fascinating guy. So he spent most of his life as a. Running a shop in Bolivia. So essentially he said, look, this is the deal. We're taking all your passports away now because you're under suspicion because of Mr. Porno. So he. He acted as if, you know, this wasn't a big deal.

[A]

Also, you. All you guys now are under suspicion. Every single one of you that are on that trip are now under suspicion.

[C]

Yeah, that's what we're told. So that's what we're told. All our passports are taken from us. And obviously. Thank you so much, Mr. Porno. Right, then obviously the jovial sort of, we've arrived in Pyongyang. Look out the window. The. The environment becomes a little more scary, as you can imagine. You don't have your passport now and you're in North Korea. Not a great feeling, but, you know, we've got another eight days here. So at that point, it's just like, oh, you know, make the most of it, right? And so basically what happens over the next sort of, I guess, five days of this is they do the entire, you know, you go on the entire trip that you've seen in every documentary. So they take you to the tower, the Juche Tower, which is the big tower in Pyongyang they take you to see the museum where they talk about, you know, how bad America is and, you know, all that kind of stuff and their version of the Korean War. And basically you go through this whole sort of tour if you like. So you go on that and then the last couple of days, so we get to, I think it was day six, to be honest, you mate, all we did there, I mean, once you go on the tour, they take you back to the hotel and you're not allowed to leave the hotel and go anywhere else. And the hotel has very few things in it. It has a buffet where they feed you. It has a pool room that's a bit run down and a karaoke bar.

[A]

As previously mentioned, if traveling to North Korea as a tourist, you must follow every and all rules. Given even seemingly innocent pranks can mean horrendous outcomes. In 2016, American tourist Otto Warmba entered North Korea as part of a guided tour group. He would be placed in the Yangonkando International Hotel. What's become infamous about this particular hotel is its apparent hidden floor. This is strictly off limits to anyone who isn't hotel staff. In fact, when you jump on the elevator, you notice that a button for the fifth floor is missing. There are many videos on YouTube depicting people getting off at other floors and taking the stairs to see just what's on floor 5. It's the same 3, 4, then 5.

[C]

It's gone in 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.

[A]

Yeah, stairs, stairs, stairs.

[B]

Because you want to go down.

[A]

Yeah, the elevator is slow.

[C]

Then use the elevator.

[A]

We've been waiting and you can't hit six.

[C]

Maybe doesn't like that.

[A]

It's like mysterious fifth floor.

[C]

What goes on here?

[A]

Nobody, apparently Otto would also be curious about this hidden floor. So one night after a few beers and New Year's festivities, he would make his way to the missing floor five, where he would allegedly steal a North Korean propaganda poster from the wall. Otto. On 2 January 2016, he was arrested at the airport and would be eventually sentenced to 15 years hard labor. This morning, 21 year old Otto Warmbier

[C]

is behind bars in North Korea. Sentenced to 15 years in a North Korean prison with hard labor. A visibly shaken Warmbier paraded before cameras, speaking at his trial Wednesday, which only lasted one hour.

[A]

I was you and manipulated. Please, Please save my life. Shortly after his sentencing, he would end up in a coma from an unconfirmed cause. Finally, In January of 2017, he was released back to the United States where he would sadly never Regain consciousness and his life support was switched off. Chris says that he and his group were not actually in this particular hotel and even though had consumed their fair share of alcohol in the back of their minds, they always knew where they were.

[C]

So we were actually put in a different hotel than that one. I think that's the big skyscraper looking one. We were put in a hotel, which I believe they used in some kind of Olympics that they did one time. We weren't told, really, that we couldn't go here and there. To be honestly, that hotel seemed to be. It was all right, but it was, you know, it was just a basic hotel. But, yeah, there was no. There was no, don't go to floor 54 or anything like that. We didn't have anything like that. It was a pretty small hotel with a quite dingy karaoke bar in one side. And then when that shut, there was a bar that was. Actually, I remember there was a bar upstairs. So one night, I think we kept going and went to another bar that was upstairs that was sort of like a little bar. And then a guy giving you more cheap Korean spirits and beer, by the way, the beer, that was actually surprisingly really good. So, yeah, that was.

[A]

You would have to be confident with yourself when you're pissed to get drunk in North Korea going, you know what? I won't do anything stupid.

[C]

Exactly. I think, you know, I think for the bulk of us, we were, you know, there was a. There was a German bloke with us, there was an Austrian bloke, Italian, so we could all handle it, I think, but we didn't do anything stupid. I think, even though we were drinking. Obviously, you've always got in the back of your head. You don't have your passport. Right. I'd like to say I'm a fairly well behaved drinker, so maybe my girlfriend might disagree, but I would say I am. And I think everyone else that was there that was drinking with us was as well, so that was good.

[A]

So what of Mr. Porno? Well, luckily for him, Chris says that apart from confiscating his computer, this time the North Korean authorities let him off with a warning. Yeah.

[C]

So porno man, he had his. His laptop confiscated for the trip, but he was with us the entire time. They didn't arrest him or detain him. They just said, you know, the way they dealt with it, they dealt with it in quite a polite way. They said, look, this is not tolerated, but, you know, we'll give you the benefit of the doubt, I suppose, you know, he may have had conversations individually with them that, you know, we weren't party to. But he was with us on every

[A]

sort of activity, and that's all we have time for. But coming up, Chris and the group would attend their cryptocurrency conference, which all seemed, well, rather pointless.

[C]

And obviously this is monotonously boring because all we're doing is we've got these pieces of paper that don't make any sense and we're, you know, reading, reading along this absolute garbage.

[A]

However, not according to the FBI.

[C]

And this is really exclusive because I've never said this and obviously in Russia now I can they said, okay, well, here's the deal.

[A]

Next time Unwanted I'm a wanderer of the soul before the end I plan to behold But I know I'll lose myself along the way what's gone is gone what's past is past Let me leave what belongs in the past. ACAST powers the World's Best Podcasts Here's a show that we recommend. Do you like being educated on things that entertain but don't matter? Well, then you need to be listening to the Podcast with Knox and Jamie Every Wednesday we put together an episode dedicated to delightful idiocy to give your brain a break from all the serious and important stuff.

[B]

Whether we're deep diving a classic movie, dissecting the true meanings behind the newest slang, or dunking on our own listeners for their bad takes or cringy stories, we always approach our topics with humor and just a little bit of side eye. And we end every episode with recommendations on all the best new movies, books, TV shows, or music.

[A]

To find out more, just search up the Podcast with Knox and Jamie wherever you listen to podcasts and prepare to make Wednesday your new favorite day of the week. ACAST helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere.

[B]

Acast.com A Rich Life isn't a straight line to a destination on the horizon. Sometimes it takes an unexpected turn, with detours, new possibilities, and even another passenger or three. And with 100 years of navigating ups and downs, you can count on Edward Jones to help guide you through it all. Because life is a winding path made rich by the people you walk it with. Let's find your rich together. Edward Jones Member, SIPC

[A]

ACAST powers the world's best Podcasts here's the show that we recommend.

[B]

Chicago 2011 A cop is murdered. Police and prosecutors swear they have the trigger man. He swears he didn't do it. How far will each side go to prove they're right?

[A]

Like it's just one bombshell after another.

[B]

You know, you're like, what?

[A]

What?

[B]

The story of a PlayStation, a brain eating amoeba, and the relentless pursuit of justice. Off duty. Out. Now listen wherever you get your podcasts.

[A]

Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.