What it's like to grow up inside North Korea
PYONGYANG, North Korea -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says the country will not use its nuclear weapons -- unless it is provoked.
In a speech at a rare meeting of his Workers' Party Congress, Kim called his country a "responsible nuclear weapons state."
He also expressed a willingness to re-open a dialogue with South Korea, but called for the U.S. to stay out of affairs in the region.
In that same speech, Kim Jong-un praised his country's five million children.
CBS News went inside North Korea, with a look at what it's like to grow up in the so-called Hermit Kingdom.
Government guides have organized events that put model children on full display for foreign media.
At a performance for foreign press, with some student seat-fillers, children showcased their talents.
At first glance, it could be a kids show anywhere in the world, but a closer look reveals uniquely North Korean characteristics.
In her solo, one little girl sings, "I love the marshal Kim Jong-un the best."
The show closed with a rousing rendition of, "We will only follow Kim Jong-un."
It's a theme of most kids' daily lives, like for 14-year-old Lee Eunkyung studying embroidery at a Pyongyang Children's Center.
"The honorable Kim Jong-un is our eternal father," she told us.
The indoctrination starts early. The party line is pushed in nursery rhymes at preschool.
Preschoolers spent the morning singing songs praising the country's leaders, their photos can be seen up on the wall.
From the time they're born, North Korea's children look up to larger-than-life images of leaders -- past and present.
Every child CBS News met was friendly, but in school they're taught to hate so-called American imperialists.
For instance, the CBS News crew took a photo showing a kindergartner wielding a toy gun at an American soldier.
CBS News asked 12-year-old Jo Daebong what he had learned about the United States.
"The U.S. has had ambitions to invade our country for more than 100 years," he said. "They continue to bring us great misery. I don't like the United States."
North Korea provides universal education through high school, and boasts a literacy rate of 100 percent for those over 15 years old.
But many children here suffer harsh realities.
The World Food Program says a third are so malnourished, their growth is stunted.
Like elsewhere in the world, the government sets the school curriculum. But throughout society here, all channels of information come from the state.
For most North Koreans, access to the internet or non-state news from the outside world is banned.