1- http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/06/14/the-ongoing-...
Kim Jong Un has barely been in power for a year, is not even thirty, and was educated in Switzerland. He's also a bit unknown, in that he was fairly well hidden from the world (seriously, it's kind of frightening). There is an actual, real chance that he wants to push for a peaceful reunification, something that would be amazingly good for the world. If he really wanted to do that one of the huge barriers is how polarized the two states are, both in terms of attitude towards each other and in terms of existing infrastructure. If reunification were to happen today it would probably destroy South Korea's economy, so if Kim Jong Un really wants peaceful unification he has to work to close the gap.
Which is why someone who doesn't want to do evil may be compelled to explore this option.
But like you I'm optimistic that any change at the top could be a good thing.
Hmm... well, personally, I have always thought that the whole "Don't be evil" thing was a case of protesting too much, on Google's part.
Have you heard of In-Q-Tel?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/07/16/156839...
http://www.corbettreport.com/meet-in-q-tel-the-cias-venture-...
How do you think Samsung feels about Agent Schmidt's visit?
A plausible near term goal might be running fiber over land between South Korea & China, which would probably be much cheaper than undersea cables.
Longer term, political capital in DPRK gives companies more bargaining power in the region. If North Korea opens up to Google searches, think how bad it would make China look. Since North Korea is smaller and more volatile, change can potentially happen there faster. If there is a power shift or change in policy, the guy running IT isn't necessarily out of power as well - so it doesn't hurt to have him advocating your position.
I guess Google can't do business with any government.
I get tired of slippery slope everything is true or false arguments, I expect it on reddit but not really here.