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the group spoke with North Korean students about their use of the internet. (Kyodo/Yonhap News)

By Park Hyun, Washington correspondent and Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter

On Jan. 7 (EST), the US government said that it would hear the results of Eric Schmidt and Bill Richardson’s visit to North Korea after the delegation returns from the country. Schmidt is the chairman of Google and Richardson is a former governor of New Mexico.

At the daily US State Department press briefing on Jan. 7, spokesperson Victoria Nuland once again expressed criticism for the visit. “We continue to think the trip is ill-advised,” she said.

However, when asked if the government wanted to hear what the team accomplishes during the visit, she said “We are always open to hearing from Americans who have been in North Korea.”

“We’ll see what they have when they come back,” Nuland added, implying that US authorities would contact Schmidt and Richardson.

Considering the fact that the US State Department has been focusing on reinforcing so-called “digital diplomacy,” which complements traditional foreign policy channels with internet and social media activities, it is expected that there will be considerable interest in the results of this visit to the North.

Reports indicate that Google chairman Schmidt, Jared Cohen, director of Google Ideas, and the rest of the people from Google are planning to look into the state of social media in North Korea.

On Jan. 3, Nuland said, “Frankly, we don’t think the timing of this [visit to North Korea] is particularly helpful...in light of recent actions by the DPRK.”

The first place that Schmidt, who is a firm believer in making information freely available through the internet, visited in North Korea was a university.

According to an Associated Press (AP) report from Pyongyang on Jan. 8, Schmidt’s first stop in North Korea was the country’s most prestigious institution of higher education, Kim Il Sung University. At the university, he was looking into how students use the internet, including Google.

“North Korean students use an intranet which only connects to sites inside North Korea,” the AP reported. “Only a very limited minority are given permission to connect to foreign sites.”

On the same subject, Reuters suggested that, if Schmidt accesses the Internet from a foreigner-only hotel in Pyongyang, he probably won’t notice much of a difference from going online at Google headquarters in Silicon Valley. However, if he were to use the normal internet, which is blocked from accessing sites outside of the country, he wouldn’t even be able to reach the Google homepage.

The wire service also drew upon the statements of several defectors from the North to report that around 100,000 North Koreans can use the Internet and that the portal site “My Country” is in operation there.

North Korea has indicated that it has been looking forward to the visit by Schmidt‘s delegation. On Jan. 7, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) promptly announced the group’s arrival in Pyongyang and also released a video of them coming out of immigration.

Google has described Schmidt‘s trip as a “private visit,” but the KCNA referred to it as a “delegation from the US company Google.” The KCNA tried to set up a Gmail account called kcna@gmail.com just before Schmidt’s visit to the North, but the ID was less than the six characters that Google requires, Reuters reported.

Earlier, on Jan. 7, Richardson, who is accompanying Schmidt on his trip, talked to reporters at the Beijing Capital International Airport. “We’ll meet with North Korean political leaders. We’ll meet with North Korean economic leaders, military. We’ll visit some universities,” he said.

However, Richardson also confirmed that they had not been informed of the exact details of their itinerary. “We don’t control the visit. They will let us know what the schedule is when we get there.”

On Jan. 8, The Wall Street Journal reported that Schmidt is the most high-profile American to visit North Korea since Kim Jong-un came to power. The foreign media are following the moves of Schmidt and company in Pyongyang with rapt attention.

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