(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/130103-google-korea-1215p.photoblog600.jpg)Jung Yeon-Je / AFP - Getty Images fileGoogle chief executive Eric Schmidt speaks during a news conference in Seoul. By NBC News wire servicesThe State Department said on Thursday the time was not right for Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and former diplomat Bill Richardson to travel to North Korea.
Follow @NBCNewsWorld (https://twitter.com/NBCNewsWorld)State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Schmidt and Richardson would be traveling as private citizens, not representatives of the U.S. government.
"Frankly, we don't think the timing of this is particularly helpful," Nuland told reporters, citing North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket in December. "They are well aware of our views."
People familiar with the plans tell The Associated Press that Richardson, a former governor of New Mexico, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and diplomatic troubleshooter, and Schmidt, a top figure in the U.S. technology industry and a key executive at the world's leading search engine company, could visit as early as this month.
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