This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20967413

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Google boss, ex-US governor urge N Korea openness Google boss, ex-US governor urge N Korea openness
(about 4 hours later)
A small delegation led by ex-New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and Google boss Eric Schmidt has urged North Korea to halt nuclear and missile tests. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt has urged North Korea to end its self-imposed isolation and allow its citizens to use the internet.
Mr Richardson said the delegation had also called on authorities to widen internet access and ensure "fair" treatment of a detained US citizen. Speaking after a visit to Pyongyang, he said North Korea would continue to lag economically unless it embraced internet freedom.
The group met officials in Pyongyang as part of a "private humanitarian mission". He was part of a US delegation led by former state governor Bill Richardson.
The US government has described the visit as unhelpful. They also urged North Korea to end nuclear and missile tests, and raised the case of a US detainee.
Mr Richardson has visited North Korea several times in the past, most recently in December 2010. Mr Richardson, also a former US envoy to the UN, has visited North Korea several times in the past, most recently in December 2010. On two occasions he helped secure the release of detained US nationals.
On two occasions he helped secure the release of detained US nationals. After his last visit two years ago, he said Pyongyang had agreed to re-open its nuclear facilities to UN inspectors, but this did not transpire. 'Ill-advised'
The delegation are due back in Bejing later in the day, where they are expected to address the media. Speaking at a media briefing in Beijing after arriving from North Korea, Mr Schmidt said he had been in Pyongyang to discuss a free and open internet.
Message of openness Internet use is highly restricted in North Korea - few people have access to a computer and most users can only access a national intranet rather than the world wide web.
On Thursday, the former governor said his delegation's main message was that more openness would benefit North Korea. "As the world becomes increasingly connected, their decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world, their economic growth and so forth, and it will make it harder for them to catch up economically," he said.
"The citizens of [North Korea] will be better off with more cell phones and an active Internet," Mr Richardson told the Associated Press news agency. "Once the Internet starts, citizens in a country can certainly build on top of it. The government has to do something. It has to make it possible for people to use the internet which the government in North Korea has not yet done."
"Those are the messages we've given to a variety of foreign policy officials, scientists and government officials." Mr Richardson said the delegation had raised the case of detainee Korean-American Kenneth Bae, who was arrested in November in circumstances that are not clear.
One in 16 North Koreans now own a mobile phone, and the country is developing its own computer products, but it still has some of the world's tightest restrictions on communications with the outside world, the BBC's Lucy Williamson reports from the city of Seoul in South Korea. North Korea has in the past released detained Americans after high-profile US visits, but Mr Richardson said he had been unable to meet Mr Bae.
Mr Schmidt has not commented on the reasons behind his visit, nor has Google. "We strongly urged the North Koreans to proceed with a moratorium on ballistic missiles and possible nuclear test," he also said.
Mr Richardson said the delegation had also asked officials to ensure "fair and humane" treatment of a US national currently detained in North Korea.
The prisoner is Korean-American Kenneth Bae, who was arrested in November in circumstances that are not clear.
North Korea has in the past released detained Americans after high-profile US visits.
The delegation's Pyongyang trip comes less than a month after North Korea put a satellite into orbit using a three-stage rocket - a move condemned by the US as a banned test of long-range missile technology.The delegation's Pyongyang trip comes less than a month after North Korea put a satellite into orbit using a three-stage rocket - a move condemned by the US as a banned test of long-range missile technology.
The US government has described the visit as "not particularly helpful".The US government has described the visit as "not particularly helpful".
"We continue to think the trip is ill-advised," US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Monday."We continue to think the trip is ill-advised," US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Monday.