What is Juche?

Many Americans probably never heard of North Korea’s Juche ideology, loosely translated as independence or self-reliance. Although I spent four years helping defend the Republic of Korea and currently have extended family in Seoul, I am embarrassed to admit I really don’t have a full understanding of the ideology either.  

Early in my military career I was able to give the question, “What is Juche” some study during Command and General Staff College. I was surprised by what I learned, not necessarily about the ideology itself, but how the history of the peninsula influenced Kim, Il Sung to develop and espouse it. Allow me to share a layman’s very basic understanding on the origins of Juche.

First, let’s start with the definition of Juche as provided by The Encyclopedia of Asian History, 1988:

“Kim Il Sung is credited with developing the idea of Juche, a self-reliant and creative application of Marxism and Leninism to the specific conditions unique to Korea. Under this principle of self-reliance, Kim formulated what is known as the monolithic ideological system. This system encompassed the thought of self-reliance in ideological stance, independence in political work, self-sustenance in economic endeavors, and self-defense in military affairs. The idea is also known as Kim Il Sung Thought.”

Seems straight forward enough. Some could even draw parallels to ideas such as “America First” at a very base level. But how did Kim Il Sung arrive at this bold ideology? To understand, one must consider Korean peninsula history.

Korea has a very distinct culture from Chinese, Mongolians and Japanese. Migrating from Siberia thousands of years ago, Koreans managed to keep their blood line and ethnic background pure by remaining a very homogenous society until the division of the peninsula in 1945¹.  Additionally, the Korean language was developed in the 15^th century and is a great source of pride as it is very distinct from other Asian languages and only remotely related to Hungarian, Finnish, Japanese, and Mongolian². 

Equally important is Korean adherence to Confucianism principles regarding the importance of family and education³. Lastly, Koreans have very distinct foods, dress, architecture, and customs still practiced by Koreans living on both sides of the DMZ. Understandably, these artifacts of culture united Koreans to create a society that values group over self-interests, promotes a feeling of exclusionism, and puts a premium on the harmony of the collective whole.⁴ 

Despite the exclusiveness of its culture, Korea has had to deal with the influence of outsiders since the first Chinese invaders around 108 B.C.⁵  Korea remained under Chinese influence until 668 A.D. when an uprising overthrew the Chinese and created what Koreans view as the first unified Korea.⁶  After Mongol rule in the 1300’s Korea enjoyed its golden years in the 1400s and into the 1500s until it again suffered through periodic invasions and rule from both the Chinese and Japanese well into the 18^th century.⁷ As a result Korea became even more isolationist and shunned Western influences that China and Japan embraced throughout the 1800s.  Starting in 1880 Korea finally began to reach out to the outside world just as a new competition over influence of the peninsula began. 

This ended with Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese war and occupation of Korea beginning in 1905.⁸ Korea remained a Japanese colony for 40 years until the allied victory over Japan in 1945 split the country at the 38^th parallel with the Soviet Union administering the North and the U.S. administering the South.  In 1948 a former Korean guerilla fighter named Kim Il Sung took control of the North and established the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.  Two years later he launched an attack on the South in an attempt to unify the Koreas on his terms embroiling the peninsula in war. 

When one considers this history, it is clear to see the conditions were ripe for Kim, Il Sung, under his authoritarian rule, to promote an ideology of supposed independence and self-reliance in North Korea. Almost 2000 years of unwanted outside influence and the strong sense of Korean cultural identity, coupled with the Kim family’s iron fist rule pushed the North Korean people to embrace Juche as their ideological system. 

Which, for this reason alone, makes the situation on the Korean peninsula an even more challenging. Beyond the basic considerations of geography, DPRK military capability and strategic goals, there exists this regrettable group think among many North Koreans, founded in part, on history, but strengthened through lies and intimidation. Some could even draw parallels to the dangerous group think that gripped Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

It is important for those involved with the defense of the peninsula to develop a basic understanding of North Korea’s “monolithic ideological system”. While I know my understanding of Juche is rudimentary at best, it was helpful in order to make some sense of a very complex problem while serving on Freedom’s Frontier.

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The views, opinions and biases expressed in this blog are the authors and do not reflect those of the U.S. Army or Department of Defense.

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^1,2,4  Marine Corps Intelligence Activity, North Korea Country Handbook (Quantico, VA: Marine Corps Intelligence Activity, May 1997), 9.

^3,5-8 Savada, Andrea M. ed. North Korea a Country Study. (Library of Congress, 1993)