Mid-September 1997 — Texas → Seoul → Beijing → Pyongyang
In mid-September 1997, Dr. John LaNoue departed Texas on a journey of twelve to fourteen days that carried him through a six-day visa hold in Seoul, a stop at Beijing's Holiday Inn Lido, and finally an Air Koryo flight into Pyongyang. The chapter documents his physical arrival in North Korea after a summer of Washington groundwork — the moment, in his own words, that his "boots were on the ground."
Dr. Robert William Mann, an Arlington, Texas pediatrician and veteran Texas Baptist Men medical missionary, arranged a first-class upgrade for the outbound leg of the trip. Dr. John frames the journey against a personal and organizational arc stretching back thirty years, from Amigos's 1967 founding to this 1997 deployment, and against the discipline of prayer shared with his wife, Kaywin, across the distance.
Chapter 21 marks the physical threshold of the North Korea mission: after a summer of Washington approvals and consortium-building recorded in Chapter 20, Dr. John's arrival in Pyongyang converts the institutional groundwork into an operational reality. The journey itself — through Seoul's visa delay and Beijing's transit — documents the logistical difficulty of entering North Korea even for an approved relief worker in 1997.
The chapter also introduces Dr. Robert Mann, whose small act of arranging a travel upgrade sits inside a much larger pattern in the memoir: relationships built over decades of shared Texas Baptist Men mission work resurfacing at critical logistical moments. Dr. Kenneth Dupuy's continuing "guardian angel" support from Longview threads directly from the prior chapter.
Dr. Robert William Mann (1939–2026) — Arlington, Texas pediatrician; longtime Texas Baptist Men medical missionary with service in Iraq, Turkey, and Albania. Arranged Dr. John's first-class upgrade for the outbound flight, continuing a decades-long pattern of mutual support among TBM missionaries.
Dr. Ken Dupuy — Continuing his role from Chapter 20 as logistical "guardian angel," coordinating from Longview, Texas during the journey.
Kaywin LaNoue — Dr. John's wife of 43 years at the time of the trip; maintained the shared prayer discipline across the distance during his journey.
Dr. Kim — Referenced in the chapter in connection with Yanbian University of Science and Technology; the dossier notes this identification is not independently confirmed and should not be asserted as a specific historical figure without further corroboration.