Inside North Korea: Greeted With a 'Goodbye'
Oct. 17, 2006 — -- After 16 hours of flying from New York, we cross the border of North Korea.
The flight attendant points out the mountains below us, where she says the father of the "dear leader" [Kim Jong Il] beat back the Japanese.
I open a magazine on board, and it tells of atrocities it says Americans have committed during the Korean War, as well as stories of America's unequal treatment of women and dangerous nuclear arsenal.
We are welcomed to North Korea, the nation of Kim Il-Sung [Kim Jong Il's father] -- the "heaven-sent hero."
We get off the plane and are among just a handful of foreigners in North Korea.
In fact, there are only about 300 in this country of 23 million.
Watch more from Diane Sawyer in North Korea Tuesday night On "World News with Charles Gibson" and Wednesday on "Good Morning America."
We too are considered Yankees -- a Chinese word that means "ocean demons."
Our cell phones and BlackBerries -- anything that will allow us to reach the outside world -- are confiscated.
As we drive into the city, there are just a handful of cars on the roads.
Today is a holiday -- the anniversary of the socialist revolution.
We head for the liberation statue of Kim Il-Sung. The calendar has been changed to measure all time from the day of his birth.
Around the statue, there are wedding parties and families coming to take pictures.
Many of them eye me warily. We've been waving at them steadily, hoping for a response.
Finally, one family turns and yells out something.
What did they yell?
"Bye-bye."
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