Google Chairman Eric Schmidt is planning a visit to North Korea that could occur as early as this month, reports the Associated Press. Citing two sources familiar with the executive's itinerary, the AP reveals that Schmidt will be making the trip with former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. Exactly who the pair will be meeting with or what they hope to accomplish with the excursion remains unclear, however. North Korea notoriously enforces some of the harshest internet censorship policies in the world.

Yet despite those debilitating policies, the country's technology sector has seen a jump in activity over recent years. North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-un recently cited the importance of science and technology in improving the economic outlook facing his people during a state address. “The industrial revolution in the new century is, in essence, a scientific and technological revolution, and breaking through the cutting edge is a shortcut to the building of an economic giant,” he said. For his part, Schmidt's long tenure as a top-level executive at Google has seen him become a leading voice on the subject of emerging technologies and the breakthroughs future innovations could offer to civilizations across the globe.