Google’s Executive Chairman in North Korea on Private Mission
Published at(SEOUL, South Korea) — Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt arrived in North Korea on Monday with former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as part of a private, humanitarian mission.
The two are looking to negotiate the return of an American citizen jailed in the communist country.
While Richardson said the visit was not a “Google trip,” North Korea’s Internet use is limited and strictly controlled, but its new, young leader, Kim Jong Un, is reportedly interested.
Schmidt is an advocate of expanding Internet access and technology to people around the world, so there is an assumption that perhaps North Korea is getting ready to open up its country to more Internet access to its people.
The U.S. State Department has criticized the visit, which comes weeks after Pyongyang launched another long range rocket, defying international protests.
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