Report: Google’s Schmidt to head to North Korea

Most recently, Google launched an online advocacy campaign that called on people to sign a pledge to show their support of a free and open Internet ahead of a United Nations treaty conference. The search giant claimed some of the treaty proposals could increase online censorship and hurt innovation.

In an email, a Google spokesperson said the company does not comment on personal travel.

Richardson will try to meet with North Korean officials during the trip to discuss the recent arrest of an American citizen of Korean descent, the AP said. The former governor served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 1997 and has been as a special envoy on sensitive international missions, according to Richardson’s website.

The U.S. and North Korea do not have diplomatic relations with one another and have long had a hostile political and trade relationship.

Schmidt, who served as the CEO of Google for roughly a decade, is a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, a group comprised of top scientists and engineers that advise the president on science and tech policy.

He is also set to release a book in April with Jared Cohen, the director of Google Ideas and a former State Department official, that will discuss how Internet technology will impact the future of politics, education, health, terrorism and policy. The book is titled The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business.