On the Juche Idea

Background

On the Juche Idea is one of Kim Jong-il's major writings on Juche and considered the most authoritative work on it. It is a standard textbook on the subject. The treatise is a systematization of both President Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il's thought on Juche philosophy and offers the most comprehensive account of Juche. Kim Il-sung's thought in particular began to be formulated as an original philosophy from the 1970s onward. On the Juche Idea was sent to the national seminar on the Juche idea on 31 March 1982 held on the occasion of the 70th birth anniversary of Kim Il-sung (15 April). The occasion was also honored with the unveiling of the Juche Tower in Pyongyang.

In the treatise, Kim Jong-il links the birth of the Juche idea to Kim Il-sung's personal history as a guerrilla fighter during the anti-Japanese struggle. On the Juche Idea thus furthered Kim Il-sung's cult of personality. Publishing the treatise helped Kim Jong-il to gain legitimacy, particularly emphasizing his intellectual prowess. At the time of writing Kim Jong-il was working as the ideological chief of the country on behalf of his father. Although it was probably ghostwritten for him, by being named as the author Kim Jong-il became the "one and only bona fide interpreter of the 'immortal Juche idea' of Kim Il Sung."

Content

Kim Jong-il explains that Juche is a departure from Marxism–Leninism rather than simply a reinterpretation of it. According to Kim, Juche offers not only an "independent and creative" direction to the Korean revolution, but also establishes a new era for human history. It is an idealist as opposed to materialist form of Marxism. The work is considered somewhat abstract in style, and described as "an exhausting and poorly-structured monologue".

In comparison to Kim Il-sung's writings, Kim Jong-il pays particular attention to consciousness and the concept of the leader. These two are often linked. According to Charles K. Armstrong, the main message of the treatise is that "regardless of material circumstances, the masses owe unquestioning obedience to the Great Leader, who alone can bring the masses to consciousness", adding that the "message would be extremely useful for the North Korean state in the difficult years ahead", referring to the death of Kim Il-sung and the North Korean famine in the 1990s, soon after the publication of On the Juche Idea.

In On the Juche Idea, Kim Jong-il divides Juche into three components: the philosophical principle, the socio-historical principles, and the guiding principles of the Juche idea.

Philosophical principle

The philosophical principle entails that Juche is a man-centered philosophy. Man has independence, creativity and consciousness, which places man at the center of the world. This is described by the maxim coined by Kim Il-sung in a 1972 interview with Japanese journalists: "man is the master of everything and decides everything." Man transforms the world and embodies Chajusŏng, or independence and autonomy. By putting man at the center, Kim Jong-il denies the existence of any supernatural power, although the Juche philosophy itself can be said to have quasi-religious elements.

Socio-historical principles

The socio-historical principles of Juche can be summarized as follows: the working masses are the subject of history. Human history is the struggle of the masses to realize their independence and defend it. Man's socio-historical mission is to transform both nature and society. Here Kim departs from dialectical materialism by primarily setting man against nature rather than the proletariat against the bourgeois class.

Guiding principles

There are three guiding principles in Juche:

1. First, independent stance means Juche in ideology, independence in politics, self-sufficiency in economy and self-reliance in defence. These four aspects of the independent stance can be already found in Kim Il-sung's 1965 speech given in Indonesia. Even though On the Juche Idea mentions economy, it is not given precedence. Words like "development" and "growth" are more often used to refer to ideology rather than economy. However, noting that an economy built on "self-reliance does not mean building an economy in isolation", Kim does hint at limited economic reforms. Sure enough, a law on joint-ventures was passed in 1984.
2. The second principle, creative method, means that all problems arising in the revolution and construction are to be solved by relying on the creativity of the masses.
3. The third and final guiding principle is giving precedence to ideological consciousness over all other work.

Legacy

On the Juche Idea has been since used as a justification for Kim Jong-il's Songun, or army-first, politics. The justification can be found in an aspect of one of the guiding principle's of Juche, which Kim has "elevated": self-reliance in defence. Kim went on to publish "The Workers' Party of Korea Is a Juche-type Revolutionary Party which Inherited the Glorious Tradition of the DIU" in October 1982 and focusing in it more on Kim Il-sung's guerrilla activities.