North Korean Leader Calls For 'Final Victory'

North Korea's new leader has spoken publicly for the first time at a celebration marking the 100th birthday of his grandfather.

State TV showed Kim Jong-Un talking monotonously to tens of thousands gathered in Pyongyang's main square for meticulously choreographed festivities.

The twenty-something leader hailed the country's "revolutionary armed forces" and said: "Let us move forward to final victory."

"I offer the purest respect and the greatest honour to great comrades Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong Il," he added, referring to his grandfather and recently deceased father.

Footage showed the leader clad in black as he read his speech, rarely raising his eyes to look at his audience.

The speech was unexpected after many years of silence from his father when he presided over such events.

A major military parade was organised to mark the anniversary in the capital, with thousands of goose-stepping soldiers filmed carrying red flags.

The display comes two days after an embarrassing failed rocket launch by the country - an incident condemned by Washington and other world leaders as a covert test of long-range missile technology.

North Korea had claimed it was attempting to put a weather satellite into orbit.

US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, the current UN Security Council president, has refused to speculate on any sanctions against North Korea over the matter.

The launch, which violated council resolutions, led President Barack Obama to say he was deeply concerned, although he added: "They've been trying to launch missiles like this for over a decade now and they don't seem to be real good at it."

North Korea has a 1.2 million-strong military but many of its 23 million people are malnourished.