Google executive chairman Schmidt going to NKorea

BEIJING (AP) -- Google's executive chairman is heading to North Korea.

Eric Schmidt of Google is in Beijing and is scheduled to leave Monday on a commercial flight bound for a country considered to have the world's most restrictive Internet policies. He is part of a delegation led by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

It is the first trip by an executive from the California-based Internet search provider to North Korea.

Richardson told The Associated Press that Schmidt is going as a private citizen and is interested in North Korea's economic issues and its use of social media. He did not elaborate.

Richardson says the delegation also plans to inquire about a Korean-American U.S. citizen detained there. Richardson says he hopes to lay the groundwork for the detainee to return home.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)