Bill Richardson, the former New Mexico governor who is now in North Korea alongside Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, and Jared Cohen, the director of Google Ideas, revealed in an interview today that his delegation has been pressing the North Korean authorities to allow people greater access to information.
In the interview with Associated Press, Richardson said, “The citizens of the [North Korea] will be better off with more cell phones and an active Internet. Those are the… messages we’ve given” to foreign policy officials, scientists and government officials.
The Richardson delegation, described in the North Korean state media as an “American delegation from Google Corp.,” is known to have met with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. No details of the conversation have emerged.
The interview emerged as photos circulate of Schmidt visiting the computer lab at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang, where he watched students browsing the internet.
Richardson’s delegation is due to leave North Korea on the 10th, and is expected to give a more detailed press conference upon arrival in Beijing.
