The former governor of the US state of New Mexico and chairman of Google Inc were en route to North Korea despite Washington's objections, a news report said Monday.
Former governor Bill Richardson was not travelling in a diplomatic
capacity but "on a private humanitarian mission," his office said in
Washington late Sunday, South Korea's Yonhap News agency reported.
Washington and Seoul have objected to the trip, saying it could
send the wrong message as they are pushing for a tightening of
US sanctions in response to Pyongyang's rocket launch in December.
The US State Department has said the visit at this time was "not
particularly helpful."
Richardson also defended the presence of Google chief executive
Eric Schmidt in the delegation.
"This is not a Google trip. He's interested in foreign policy,
he's a friend of mine, and I felt it was important that there be a
broader perspective of our visit," he told US broadcaster CBS last
week.
The delegation also included Jared Cohen, a former State
Department official and currently the director of Google Ideas, a
department which explores the technology company's role in political,
social and development issues.
Richardson is a former US ambassador to the United Nations and has
travelled to North Korea several times.
He has said his current trip would include discussions on
Pyongyang's nuclear programme and on a Korean-American tour operator
detained more than two months ago for unspecified crimes against
North Korea.
