Google is a company that’s all about free and open communication, with their mission statement even reading, “to make [the world’s information] universally accessible and useful.” Quite to the contrary, the authoritarian government of North Korea is seen as the world’s most closed off nation. It’s somewhat surprising, then, that in early April representatives from North Korea came to the U.S. to take a tour of Google and other major corporations.
The North Korean delegation was comprised of twelve representatives, although it excluded any high-ranking officials (many of which are actually prohibited, by the U.S. government, from entering the United States). Their tour of theGoogleplex lasted about 100 minutes, and the group then moved quickly to other major locations in the area, including Stanford University. The trip to the San Jose area was the culmination of a U.S. tour that also included New York, San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
A U.S. Foreign Ministry official stated that, “It appears that U.S. officials may have arranged the visit to Google in order to show the North Koreans the level of U.S. technology and influence.” However, it’s still uncertain who initiated the invitation to the North Korean representatives. The theme of the nationwide tour does seem focused on technology and large-scale businesses, though, with other locations on the tour including Bloomingdale’s, Qualcomm, and Bloomberg News.
The U.S. isn’t the only nation seeing an increase in North Korean representatives. North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly Chairman, Choe Tae-bok, recently visited the United Kingdom and met with a member of British parliament. While these visits aren’t indicative that the country will be opening to the outside world any time soon, the iron gates of the country may be creaking open as members of the regime witness different cultural and socio-economic paradigms.
[via the Chosun Ilbo]
