ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION).
Crowds gathered along Pyongyang's river banks on Sunday (April 15) for a lavish fireworks display that brought to a close the 100th birthday of North Korea founding leader Kim Il-sung, referred to as the 'Eternal President'.
His grandson, Kim Jong-un, North Korea's new leader, had delivered hours earlier his first major public speech since taking power last December.
The young Kim spoke for 20 minutes in front of thousands of goose-stepping soldiers and parading missiles, whilst the international community mused on his embarrassing decision to launch a rocket, two days previously, that fell back to earth less than 2 minutes after liftoff.
In his speech, Kim Jong-un indicated he would stick to the "military-first" policies that have put North Korea on the verge of nuclear-weapons capacity urging the people to "move forward to final victory".
Although the military display was familiar, the public admission on state television that the rocket launch had not entered orbit broke with the tradition of not telling North Koreans about embarrassing failures.
