Juche[a] is the official ideology of the DPRK.[1]
Kim Il-sung developed the ideology, with his On the Juche idea which was originally viewed as a variant of Marxism–Leninism until it became distinctly Korean in character. It incorporates the historical materialist ideas of Marxism–Leninism and strongly emphasizes the relationship between the individual, the nation state and its sovereignty.
Description
The Juche idea holds that the popular masses are the driving force of history, and that humanity's goal is striving for independence from social subjugation and natural restrictions. In the context of Juche, the popular masses are not determined by their class background, only by their ideological basis.[2]
It focuses on popular sovereignty and self-reliance to advance revolution in the conditions of the Korean people. This theoretical premise forms the core strategic goal of the Juche idea in upholding the sovereignty and independence of the DPRK from imperialist aggression, a position held as a consequence of the actions perpetrated by the United States.
In general, the Juche idea upholds political and economical self-reliance and achieving a rich material and cultural life for the people through revolutionary leadership strengthened by a relationship with the masses.[2]
The Juche idea must not be viewed as a simple inheritance and development of Marxism-Leninism; it must be viewed as a new and original idea. That we should see originality in context with derivations in understanding means that the Juche idea is not an ideology, which contrasts with Marxism-Leninism and that the historical achievements of Marxism-Leninism must be acknowledged. We acknowledge the historical achievements of the dialectical materialism of Marxism, as it smashed the reactionary idealistic and metaphysical outlook on the world, but do not view it as the perfect philosophy of the working class. We appraise the historical achievements of Marxism-Leninism as it proved the inevitability of the fall of capitalism and the triumph of socialism and clarified the and theory on building a classless ideal society free of exploitation and oppression, but we do not see it as a perfect communist revolutionary theory. As a matter of course we have so far not spoken much about the limitations of Marxism-Leninism. But today when its limitations are more and more evident, it is necessary to bring them home to our officials. Only then can they fully understand the originality and superiority of the Juche idea, the revolutionary idea of the leader, and make firmer their conviction of our style socialism based on the Juche idea. – Kim Jong-Il[3]
References
- ↑ Paul French (2014). North Korea: state of paranoia. Zed Books. ISBN 978-1-78032-947-5
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 DPRK Foreign Languages Publishing House (2014). Juche Idea: answers to 100 questions. [PDF]
- ↑ On some problems of the ideological foundation of socialism
Notes
- ↑ Korean: 주체/主體, lit. 'subject'; usually left untranslated or translated as "self-reliance"