Google chairman Eric Schmidt arrived in Pyongyang today for the start of a controversial trip to North Korea on a "private humanitarian mission" with former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. The State Department isn't too keen on the visit, coming so soon after North Korea pissed off the world by launching a satellite into orbit. But Eric Schmidt does what he wants, because he is from The Internet, and The Internet heeds no mortal law.
Richardson told the AP, "I'm sure [Schmidt] is interested in some of the economic issues there, the social media aspect." There is not much to see when it comes to the "social media aspect" considering almost the entire population of North Korea is completely cut off from the internet. The government hasn't been too successful in using social media for promotional purposes, either: When North Korea joined Facebook in 2010 they had just 65 friends and inexplicably listed their sexual orientation as gay.
Bill Richardson, meanwhile, hopes to address the situation of U.S. citizen Kenneth Bae, a tourist who has been imprisoned in North Korea since November for "hostile acts." The whole world waits to see if they get to go to North Korea's world famous dolphinarium.
[image via AP]