Basically Schmidt isn’t going to North Korea to talk Kim 3.0 into opening up the country’s borders and allowing people to read what they want. Analysts believe he could advocate some liberalization and kindly ask the Supreme Leader to loosen some restrictions in education.
Mind you, Kim Jong-un has been sending some reconciliatory messages in recent days, but we are setting the bar pretty low here. Anything short of threatening nuclear war is considered reconciliatory by Pyongyang standards.
Perhaps it is all a big ploy, a Stalinist maskirovka on Kim Jong-un’s part. He could be trying to brainwash Schmidt and force him to transform Google into a totalitarian company modeled along the lines of the DPRK. Or Apple. Then again, maybe he just needs Google Maps to guide his Taepodong ICBMs, since using Apple Maps on nuclear missiles doesn’t sound like a very good idea.
Still, there’s always a chance Kim Jong-un could be sincere. Maybe the poor guy just wants a Nexus 4 for the missus and can’t get it anywhere?