Schmidt, daughter open up about trip to North Korea

Google's Eric Schmidt (right) arrives in North Korea on January 7, 2013, with former N.M. Gov. Bill Richardson.

(Credit: CBS News/Screenshot by CNET) Google's Eric Schmidt is back from his much-publicized trip to North Korea, and he's got a few details to share about his humanitarian mission.

The search giant's executive chairman had already revealed some of the reasoning behind his trip to reporters during a briefing a week and a half ago at the Beijing airport, saying that his private delegation urged North Korean officials to open up global Internet access if they wanted to further their economy. The delegation was led by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who is also a former ambassador to the U.N.

In a post last night on his Google+ page, Schmidt opened up more about his thoughts on Internet access in the country, explaining that North Korea's decision to essentially isolate itself from the global Net is going to "make it harder for them to catch up economically."

He noted that while Internet access is possible for government officials and the military and while there is a private intranet set up for universities, the general public does not have access to the Internet unless s... [Read more]