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Subscribe to RSSKim Jung-un, the young North Korean leader, made his first public speech Sunday – a possible sign of new openness. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his first public speech called for a push toward "final victory" Sunday during a massive celebration marking the 100th birthday of national founder Kim Il Sung.
Kim, 29, in the 22-minute speech broadcast on state-owned television, praised his grandfather as tens of thousands gathered in Pyongyang's main square for meticulously choreographed festivities that came two days after a failed rocket launch.
"I offer the purest respect and the greatest honor to great comrades Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il," he told cheering crowds, referring to his late grandfather and deceased father. Kim called his grandfather as the eternal leader of the country and "founder and the builder of our revolutionary armed forces."
He also said it was important to keep the military strong and to remember the military is more than rockets.
"Let's go forward toward final victory," he concluded.
Kim also reviewed a military parade as soldiers bedecked with rifles and medals marched and tanks, missiles and other hardware rolled past and military jets flew overhead, the Voice of America reported on Twitter.
The parade included the unveiling of what appears to be a new missile, The Associated Press reported.
While its contents were uncontroversial, the speech itself was a big surprise after many years of silence from Kim's father when he presided over similar events.
Sunday's celebration followed North Korea's attempt to launch a long range rocket, which ended in failure on Friday.
Washington and others had said the Friday rocket launch was a covert test of long-range missile technology.
The state that Kim inherited in December after the death of his father boasts a 1.2 million-strong military, wants to possess a nuclear weapon and to develop the ability to hit the United States with it.
Behind those ambitions are 23 million people, many malnourished, in an economy whose output is worth just $40 billion annually in purchasing power parity terms, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, compared with South Korea's $1.5 trillion economy.
This article includes reporting by Reuters and The Associated Press.
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PhotoBlog: North Korean ruling party holds mass meeting
NBC's space expert Jim Oberg on N.Korea launch failure
US cancels food aid to North Korea after missile launch, warns of more sanctions
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Got to love a world that is seeing mass world wars as it future.. the only future our governing system today is worthy of, mass wars,, the United states that has become the joke of the world and deserves every bit of destruction we see coming to it..Oh yes, can't wait,, maybe I can get a job picking up body parts for more than 6 dollars an hour, living in a corrupt greedy, perverted society where even welfare cased maggots live better than people who paid taxes for 54 years of their life..Go Abomination,,Obmination,, great how those two go so well together, And it's coming people of puppet land..
Hmm seems like you mustve misplaced yer anti-psychotic meds eh?
It is astounding to see this cretin ruining this country further.
ATTENTION: NRA Members, You see what happens when you put Weapons into the hands of Trained but immature Children?
A little difference between a country and a U.S. citizen wishing to have arms wouldn't you say? Just shows then by your own statement that even the "Bad" guys get arms no matter what.
roc1960; can you say SARCASM !!! Evidently you are not able to recognize it when you see it.
With the people left with nothing other than grass, bark, and each other to eat, where exactly do they get the energy to be in energetic and happy crowds??????
Soilent green.
The threat of collective punishment for you and your family is one hell of a motivator!
Maybe they are either Governmenht stooges or possibly the families of Servicepeople? They look rather well-dressed to be the Common Folk, don't they?
There are many variables that some of you may not realize:
a. what is reported in the western press about North Korea is not accurate; much of it just paranoid misinformation. There is much more interaction between South Korea and North Korea in business - which is seldom reported by press.
b. there are many families (clans) - which have part of their clan in north & part in south. Many want unification.
c. the notion that North Korea's public is starving is a gross exaggeration according to Chinese friends who have visited North Korea often. Is it possible that charities / or someone else benefits by promoting this misinformation?
d. ultimately - it will be capitalism which will lead to the fall of the North - probably through the future use of smart phones & computers (just like China & Vietnam & Cuba have been). There is no need for military action - it will slowly crumble...which will lead to the eventual ruin of the wacky military nut-cases who are just trying to protect their jobs / stature / power.
the notion that North Korea's public is starving is a gross exaggeration according to Chinese friends who have visited North Korea often. Is it possible that charities / or someone else benefits by promoting this misinformation? You are actually naive enough to believe a dictatorship government!?
Mr. Morlack - have not heard back from you on the "gross exaggeration of North Korean lack of food issue" - which you suggested I was naive about.
Still have not heard if you ever been to Korea / or China which you seem so Fox News Network knowledgeable about.? (always a scary thought)
More importantly.....do you know that China is not a dictatorship? Technically - it is still communist (which is 100% opposite of dictatorship).......but in reality China is about 90% capitalist.
Do you have any questions? I will do my best to share my knowledge & experience
Morlak; have your Chinese Friends been visiting the Cities, Military Compounds or the Outlying Farming communities? The cities are the techno-elite and favorites of the Government; The Military - Well they are the elite from their own leader's mouth.
Now look to the farmers which in any AUTHORITARIAN Government are always the ones to suffer, this, dating back to ancient Asia, Northern Africa AND Feudal Europe. North Korea is not Authoritarian it is the last survival of Stalinist Communism left on the face of this Earth. Now look how the rural peasantry suffered under that infamous leader.
Either you are pandering to the Communists or are one yourself who is trying to throw discord into perception of reality.
When he gets his glasses fixed, he is going to kill his barber.
Response to Morlack -
Actually these are Chinese business people who I often deal with in the U.S. and in Korea. They have nothing to do with the Chinese government. Naive - is something I am not.
Have you ever been to Korea?
What is "Final Victory"? Does anyone think a unified communist Korea under his rule anymore than lunacy?
He looks like he's about to cry. Or fart. Maybe poop in his pants? Not sure.
He does look like he has a turtle poken out doesn't he.
I want all North koreans to know that what my grand-father and father didnt accomplish i will. I will take over the United States and since china owns them I wont have to repay the debt incurred. I know I should of waited till the United States sent the food supplies that my army needs but i thought if we launched that missle i could even get more supplies from the U.S. Well ill wait a few months and the imbeciles in washington will want to make the deal again as soon as I explode another atomic bomb. I hold my friends close but my enemies closer as i can always black-mail the idiots.
who or whom is north korea afraid of? do they feel a threat from this country? have we threatened them with nukes? KIM must feel we are a threat we need to try a better or different way of comunication a better understanding of this country. or maybe we need to mind or own country and stop trying to tell outhers what they can and cant do .
I think we are misunderstanding his point,...
He's not talking about a victory that is final,....he's just urging someone, somewhere to help push Korea to ANY victory at all.
Then, when they have their first victory,...they'll say "FINALLY" !
For all you day dreaming clowns thinking this 3rd of a kind, rabid imperialist nationalist is awaiting an opportunity to " refute nukes and negotiate an end to hostilities with South Korea and South Korea's allies", let me just point out his "Final Victory" ending remark. Believe me, the "Final Victory" he speaks of says it all.
PlanoDude - you are clearly confused if you think North Korea is an imperialist nation - I do not recall North Korea invading any countries in past twenty years.
However - we have invaded both Iraq (2X) and Afghanistan (1X) in that period. Who are the imperialist - kind of seems like we are - and have been since 1950's.
These people, North Korea, are a bunch of putts. Their military would last thirty minutes against the professional military of South Korea. After their existing rockets were destroyed by our antiballistic systems and their ground launch systems seccumb to our Tommahawk missiles they will be naked. You can't make a purse out of a sow's ear and North Korea has cobbled together some nineteenth century fireworks. That is all they have.
There is no reason to use U.S. military's dynamic weapons - capitalism will bring North Korea to it's knees in near future. It worked in China and Vietnam. It will happen in North Korea eventually.
All this goofy BS from NK now is just saber rattling & rhetoric.
Do not believe what you see on the news on television - it is bunch of poop focused on having you tune into news - so they have good ratings so they can sell advertising.
To see such military display reminds me of Hitler's parades and the Soviet Union during the cold war. It is so obsolete that it sends these people back decades. They need to progress and trade their military arsenal for food to feed their starving people. Their priorities need a shift.
The Russians fought back Hitler with his superior weapons and Blitzkrieg with old out dated weapons and on horse back for some. Never under estimate the will of people. What did the N. Vietnamese and V.C. use to fend off a Superior force? Afghanistan?
With that many military troops, it's like a war in his own country. It's won't be long the North Korean politicians will tell the people we can't afford Social Security, Medicare or any type health insurance for their people. OOPS!!!!!
I forgot, that's America after two stupid wars we didn't belong, wasting our tax-payers money. Saying,we're broke people.
I think Jungun has taken too many trips to the Krispy Kreme.
The rise of a new NK leader who will have impact on world's political stage.
This is a country on edge of change - the young people will learn what is going on in the rest of the world - and the power-hungry military government will crumble. They will find out about Arab Spring & China evolution.
It is inevitable. The young people will see the benefits of capitalism - and go for the materialistic stuff - it always happens. Then the military NK military leaders will be exposed as "king without clothes / or brains."
I just feel so sorry for the brainwashed and tormented North Korean people. Their only mistake in life was being born in North Korea. That's it. They're human just like you and me, and have to endure untold hardships for no reason other than stubborness on the part of the hardliners. So sad.
Brain washed boobs. All of them.
The finale victory is the end of us............These people are nut's.
That would be the final victory, an attack on the USA. I just hope sanctions remain maybe the people will revolt against this regime.
When they get Hungry enough?
Behind those ambitions are 23 million people, many malnourished, in an economy whose output is worth just $40 billion annually in purchasing power parity terms, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, compared with South Korea's $1.5 trillion economy. OBVIOUSLY COMMUNISM DOSE NOT WORK!
China is communist and doe's quite well at taken over countries / Tibet / etc... / America owes China 7 trillion dollars. Not the artificial low chinese currency that is worthless. China use's North Korea to press its rights in the region. They have been directly invovled with North Korea for along time. They even have bases and troops there.
bob, you live a long ways from reality. china does have a small number of troops in the "special economic zone" , and no bases in NK. the purpose of the troops in the economic zone is to protect themselves (china) from NK defectors, which they view about the same as you view illegal mexicans. the economic zone is to china, what china is to us, a source of dirt-cheap labor. the NKs are happy to work at a fraction of what even chinese workers make, and to them they are making good money . (and of course they are happy about it, otherwise they get sent to NK reeducation camps). but the troops there are to protect the chinese managers/business owners and keep NK defectors from getting into china
the two reasons china continues to support NK are that they do NOT want thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of NK refugees streaming into china if the NK government collapses, and they also don't want an american ally literally on their doorstep
would you want a russian(or china) allied mexico right next door?
for more on the "chinese troops in NK", here's a link, its from an english SK paper
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/01/17/2011011700465.html
btw, try spellcheck, its your friend
Where do you get your information? Chinese troops fought and died by the hundreds of thousands in the Korean conflict. The only border problem China has is people want to get out. How are you privy to inside information concerning movements of communist troops? Maybe a quarter of a million chinese live in North Korea. Remember all Chinese are members of the military and great capitalists.
several years of living in S Korea. I supplied a link to a South Korean (english language) paper too
so where do you get your information from? e-mails? rush or beck? some other ignorant fool that doesn't know his a$$ from a hole in the ground?
yeah, sixty years ago. Why? I already answered that, but reading comprehension clearly is not something you excel at, so I will repeat it. "the Chinese do not want America or an ally of America sitting right on their border" is that so difficult for you to comprehend?
and Chinese certainly do NOT want to "get out" of china to NK, it is very much the other way around. what you are saying is that they want to go from being poor to being poor, starved and tortured
basically, China views NK as a pack of useful idiots that keep potential "foreign invaders" off of their borders, if you had studied the slightest bit of history, you would understand why they don't want foreign powers on their borders, having a very long history (5000 years or so)of "foreign invaders"
Who is living in the past now? Foreign invaders. Explain Vietnam. Why does China claim Taiwan? The leader who united China moved there and established a democratic government, to get away from zealots. I believe your defensive position of China would fall under that category. I did not imply they wanted out to go to N. Korea. I will not dispute what you believe. What is in dispute is China's role in the region. The term is free zone where they are not under scrutiny from host country. They operate this way in numerous countries including the U.S.A.
I am simply stating facts about China, not defending them
so you are disputing the fact that China IS the dominant player in the region? and the "China/NK 'free zone'" is but a tiny portion of all of NK.
I like SK, no doubt about that, I would be heartbroken to see them lose against a foe as pathetic and ridiculous as the NK.
China knows that we would defend Taiwan, regardless of what our "official policy" is, the only way for them to be reunited is if Taiwan decides for itself to reunite with China. and the only way for THAT to happen is if China allows free enterprise to reign supreme. (which is happening, but not like we would want.)
China moves into regions with their own workers, and set-up little cities. The integration of those workers change the diversity of those regions into ones that support and encourage Chinese doctrine, with little thought of the indigenous people. Pick a continent, and you will find many projects in various stages and magnitudes. They help themselves and provide nothing as is the case in North Korea. South Korea exists because free people helped and supported them. Check and see who fought on the side of the south and the north. It's not about borders, it is about power and wealth.
uh huh, sounds familiar... let me think, gee what countries have used THAT one before...?
yep, its such a terrible deal that other countries seem to keep inviting them despite what a terrible deal it is, why would that be? maybe its not such a bad deal for those countries after all? (most of which are desperately poor)
you do realize that SK was a military dictatorship until the 80's, right?
SWOOSH, I have gone right over your head and you have completely missed my point
too stuck in your simplistic rhetoric and ignorance of history and global politics to actually understand what is really going on
Enlighten me on the substantial knowledge you profess to have in more simpler terms that I might understand. I believe you imply christian countries who move in to modernize a region for their benefit does not also help those people. All countries that embraced Western values became prosperous, unlike poor countries that except the intrusion of Communist countries. A couple places we see this is East Berlin and North Korea. Would your point be from post one reply be about Chinese defending against free societies?
worked so well in Iran, didn't it?
you know, when the CIA overthrew the democratically elected president and installed the shah. mostly because they were afraid that he would get too friendly with the soviets
BTW, I think you meant "accept" not "except". please tell me how the old east European, Soviet Bloc countries "accepted" anything? they were outright invaded, and the Soviets never really left until their government collapsed
and since when does "christian" have anything to do with anything? now you are just pulling things out of your arse
you do know the berlin wall fell over 20 years ago, right? there is no such thing as "east" Germany or "East Berlin" anymore?
and again
for whose "benefit"? I believe you imply that we have the right to impose our values upon others and that they are too ignorant or stupid (or something) to make decisions for themselves. how very "liberal" of you, it is the same mindset that our own government uses to pass laws and regulations "for our own good"
Forward to final victory! Down with Vespucciland! :O) I know I'm not the only one who sometimes feels that I've somehow managed to slip into some alternate and rather disturbing reality.