Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt’s trip to North Korea has ended, and he took the time to address the press about it.

It remains unclear just how productive the trip was, but he and his companions, which included former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, were unable to secure the release of a Korean-American that is being detained in the country, Reuters reports.

Schmidt is quoted as saying, “As the world becomes increasingly connected, their decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world, their economic growth and so forth…The technology in North Korea is very limited…The government has to do something. They have to make it possible for people to use the Internet…It’s their choice now, and time, in my view, for them to start or they will remain behind.”

The Wall Street Journal shares this video of some of Schmidt’s words:

The trip was not vey well received by the U.S. State Department who conveyed that it was not thrilled with the timing, and noted that Schmidt and Richardson were well aware of the department’s feelings on the matter.