Pyongyang , North Korea ( CNN ) -- For just a moment we can hardly believe what is happening . The boyish leader takes a step towards the microphone , the massed ranks of the huge army he commands poised before him . And then he speaks . The adoring crowd who have been chanting his name falls silent . Kim Jong Un , not yet 30 years old , appears slightly nervous . His voice does n't waver but his body moves back and forth restlessly and his eyes dart around . If his nerves betray him slightly , his words stay strong . He stands atop the shoulders of the men who have gone before him , his grandfather and father . Directly below him hang the huge portraits of the man North Koreans call the Great Leader , Kim il Sung , and his son the so-called Dear Leader , Kim Jong Il . North Korea marks founder 's 100th birthday . The third generation of the Kim dynasty pledges to build on his family 's legacy . But already , just with this speech , he is veering from their path . It is something his father never did . North Koreans I speak to say they ca n't recall ever hearing his voice . To be here now is `` the greatest gift I have received in my life , '' one man says . Kim Jong Un is speaking to two audiences : his people and the outside world he stands apart from . The newly-crowned Supreme Leader has a vowed to try to unite the fractured Korean nation , still separated after more than half a century . `` We have suffered the pain of separation for nearly 70 years , '' he declares . `` We have lived as one people on the same land for thousands of years to suffer like this is heartbreaking . `` Our party and our government will work with anyone who truly wants reunification . '' But this is not a day for talk of peace . This is a military parade with all the menace this isolated nation can muster . To North Koreans this says they can defend themselves . To their enemies , especially the United States , there is a deadly message . `` Our military has become a powerful military able to handle any kind of modern warfare , with complete offensive and defensive capabilities , '' Kim says . `` The foreign powers are not the only ones with monopoly on military supremacy , and the days of their threatening and lying to us with atomic weapons is forever gone . '' It is 100 years since the birth of the founding father of the nation , Kim il Sung . Installed as leader by Russia in 1945 after the liberation and the separation of North and South Korea , he is still revered as a freedom fighter and hero . To honor his birthday , the military , one of the largest on earth , shows off its arsenal . Soldiers -- men and women -- goose step with precision , while columns of tanks bearing the message `` we will smash the United States imperialists '' roll across the great parade square . The latest hi-tech weapons then follow , including drones and missiles that could potentially strike targets thousands of miles away . This is an army battle ready , a country still technically at war and soldiers determined to follow any order . `` With the strategy of the Great Leader Kim Il Sung , the dear Kim Jong il and Kim Jong Un , and with our bombs and weapons , we will destroy them , '' a group of soldiers tells me . In North Korea the army comes first , no expense spared . While it shows off its guns to the world , many people go hungry . The military is well fed , but aid agencies say the country 's rural population suffers from chronic malnutrition and stunted growth as they scrounge for food . In a rare concession , Kim says this regime will not allow people to suffer any more -- as close as he could get to admitting the government had failed the people in the past . `` Our fellow citizens , who are the best citizens in the world , who have overcome countless struggles and hardships , it is our party 's firmest resolve not to let our citizens go hungry again , '' he says . Across the capital , people watching on are alive to this moment . When I approach one group and merely mention the name Kim Jong Un they explode into chants and loud clapping . One man beaming at our camera says , `` we want to tell the world how proud we are to have such a man to lead us . '' Kim has inherited the power , adulation and responsibility few people could possibly be prepared for . The world is watching and wondering if he will be different from his forefathers and whether he will even survive . When the parade passes , Kim will face the reality of ruling this poverty-stricken , pariah state .
Kim Jong Un spoke during a celebration in Pyongyang marking Kim Il Sung 's birth 100 years earlier . The third generation of the Kim dynasty pledges to build on his family 's legacy . Kim also acknowledged the suffering of many N. Koreans , vowed never to let them starve again . But he also carried a warning that North Korea remains able to defend itself .