News Summary: Google exec in North Korea
From Silicon Valley to Kim Il Sung University, Google exec visits NKorean students using web
GOOGLE FROM THE NORTH: Students at North Korea's premier university showed Google's executive chairman how they look for information online: they Google it. Eric Schmidt got a first look at North Korea's limited Internet usage when an American delegation he and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson are leading visited a computer lab at Kim Il Sung University.
LIMITED SEARCH: Surfing the Internet freely is the privilege of only a very few in North Korea, however, where the authoritarian government imposes strict limits on access to the World Wide Web. Computers at Pyongyang's main library at the Grand People's Study house are linked to a domestic Intranet service that allows them to read state-run media online and access a trove of reading materials culled by North Korean officials.
GOALS: Schmidt, who is the highest-profile U.S. business executive to visit North Korea since leader Kim Jong Un took power a year ago, has not spoken publicly about the reasons behind the journey to North Korea. Richardson has called the trip a "private, humanitarian" mission by U.S. citizens and has sought to allay worries in Washington.
