North Korea Googles

Eric Schmidt, chairman of tech giant Google, has gone where few men have gone before. Last Jan. 7, the Google chairman visited Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea in a “private humanitarian mission.”

The delegation was headed by former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and the US was quick to condemn the visit.

Richardson, however, said the visit was aimed to place a moratorium on North Korea missile launches and its nuclear tests. He added that it is also to promote wider access to mobile phones and Internet for North Koreans.

Schmidt was joined by Jared Cohen, the think-tank director of Google. North Korea heralded the visit of Google as its state media bannered “Delegation of Google Corp. of US arrives.”

When Schmidt visited a university in the capital, a student showed how he looks for information online—by Googling it. Both Schmidt and Cohen also chatted with some students as they worked on HP desktop computers. The students said the computers were gifts of Kim Jong Il.

The university librarian said their students have had access to the Internet since April 2010.

Schmidt’s visit was slammed by the US. North Korea is currently detaining a US citizen, who the state accused of having committed hostile acts against North Korea. If he is found guilty, he is facing a minimum of 10 years in prison.

The US is also one of the countries that criticized North Korea for launching a long-range rocket last December. North Korea declared the event a success.