[RRW]

Bill Richardson, former Governor, US Ambassador to the UN and backchannel freelance diplomat extraordinaire, was planning his 8th trip to Democratic People's Republic of (North) Korea. He invited my father Eric, who invited me.

Two sets of goals for the trip: political (Richardson's side) and technological (our side). Speaking as a tech person, just getting to speak to officials in the most closed country on earth about the virtues of the Internet--and having them (appear to) listen--seemed extraordinary.

It was a nine-person delegation in total. We left our phones and laptops behind in China, since we were warned they'd be confiscated in NK, and probably infected with lord knows what malware.

https://sites.google.com/site/sophieinnorthkorea/