111-529: Juche ( English: / ˈ dʒ uː tʃ eɪ / , JOO -chay ; Korean : 주체 ; MR : Chuch'e ; Korean: [tɕutɕʰe] ), officially the Juche idea , is a component of Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism, the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea . North Korean sources attribute its conceptualization to Kim Il Sung ,
222-426: A classless society and egalitarianism . A few critics have dismissed the idea that Juche is an ideology altogether. Myers argues that Juche cannot be described as a true political ideology because it does not have an underlying belief system , while Alzo David-West calls it "meaningless on logical and naturalistic grounds". American political analyst Robert E. Kelly argues that Juche exists solely to protect
333-541: A heart attack . He died while bathing, and as such a large amount of water entered his lungs; however, an autopsy found no poison or drugs in his body, and footage from surveillance cameras showed no signs of forcible entry . On those grounds, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) stated that there was no evidence that his death might be murder and that they would close their investigation. On 20 October, just shortly after Hwang's death,
444-735: A "sacred leader" in Juche as well as the cult around the Kim family has been compared to the State Shinto ideology of Imperial Japan , in which the Emperor was seen as a divine being . Through the fundamental belief in the essential role of the Great Leader, Kim Il Sung has become the "supreme deity for the people" and the Juche doctrine is reinforced in North Korea's constitution as
555-468: A Great Leader is essential for the popular masses to succeed in their revolutionary movement because without leadership they cannot survive. This is the foundation of Kim Il Sung's cult of personality . The personality cult explains how the Juche ideology has endured, even during the North Korean government's undeniable dependence on foreign assistance during its famine in the 1990s. The concept of
666-484: A Korean influence on Khitan. The hypothesis that Korean could be related to Japanese has had some supporters due to some overlap in vocabulary and similar grammatical features that have been elaborated upon by such researchers as Samuel E. Martin and Roy Andrew Miller . Sergei Starostin (1991) found about 25% of potential cognates in the Japanese–Korean 100-word Swadesh list . Some linguists concerned with
777-635: A Monolithic Ideological System . Juche has been variously described by critics as a quasi-religion , a nationalist or fascistic ideology, and a deviation from Marxism–Leninism. Juche comes from the Sino-Japanese word 主體 ( modern spelling : 主体 ), whose Japanese reading is shutai . The word was coined in 1887 to translate the concept of Subjekt in German philosophy ( subject , meaning "the entity perceiving or acting upon an object or environment") into Japanese. The word migrated to
888-639: A base in heavy industry, with the aim to become as self-sufficient as possible. As a result, it developed what has been called the "most autarkic industrial economy in the world". North Korea received economic aid and technical assistance from the Soviet Union and China, but it did not join Comecon , the communist common market. In the 1990s, it had one of the world's lowest rates for dependence on petroleum , using hydroelectric power and coal instead of imported oil. Its textile industry uses vinylon , known as
999-480: A core vowel. The IPA symbol ⟨ ◌͈ ⟩ ( U+0348 ◌͈ COMBINING DOUBLE VERTICAL LINE BELOW ) is used to denote the tensed consonants /p͈/, /t͈/, /k͈/, /t͡ɕ͈/, /s͈/ . Its official use in the extensions to the IPA is for "strong" articulation, but is used in the literature for faucalized voice . The Korean consonants also have elements of stiff voice , but it is not yet known how typical this
1110-562: A framework for resisting colonialism and economic dependency ,asserting that every state has the right to self-determination . Yielding to foreign pressure or intervention would violate the principle of political independence and threaten a country's ability to defend its sovereignty. This is in contrast to sadaejuui ( 사대주의 ), which advocates reliance on a great power . However, Juche does not advocate total isolation and encourages cooperation between socialist states. As Kim Jong Il writes in On
1221-526: A guiding principle of North Korea's diplomatic strategy. As countries in the Eastern Bloc collapsed and introduced market reforms, North Korea increasingly emphasized Juche in both theory and practice. Even amid economic and political crises, North Korea continues to emphasize its independence on the world stage. After the devastation of the Korean War, North Korea began to rebuild its economy with
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#17327731433991332-545: A later founder effect diminished the internal variety of both language families. Since the establishment of two independent governments, North–South differences have developed in standard Korean, including variations in pronunciation and vocabulary chosen. However, these minor differences can be found in any of the Korean dialects , which are still largely mutually intelligible . The Chinese language , written with Chinese characters and read with Sino-Xenic pronunciations ,
1443-626: A move from socialism to nationalism . This was evident in a speech presented by Kim Jong Il in 1982, during celebrations of his father's 70th birthday , in which he stated that love for the nation came before love for socialism. This particularism gave birth to such concepts as "A Theory of the Korean Nation as Number One" ( 조선민족제일주의 ) and "Socialism of Our Style" ( 우리식사회주의 ). Following the death of Kim Jong Il in December 2011, Kimilsungism became Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism ( 김일성-김정일주의 ) at
1554-500: A political purge similar to the Yan'an Rectification Movement in China. It became known as the " Juche speech" and is considered one of Kim Il Sung's most important works. Western scholars generally agree that Hwang Jang-yop , Kim Il Sung's top adviser on philosophy, was responsible for the conceptualization and early development of Juche . Hwang rediscovered the Juche speech sometime in
1665-574: A possible relationship.) Hudson & Robbeets (2020) suggested that there are traces of a pre- Nivkh substratum in Korean. According to the hypothesis, ancestral varieties of Nivkh (also known as Amuric ) were once distributed on the Korean Peninsula before the arrival of Koreanic speakers. Korean syllable structure is (C)(G)V(C), consisting of an optional onset consonant, glide /j, w, ɰ/ and final coda /p, t, k, m, n, ŋ, l/ surrounding
1776-552: A profound explanation of the theories, strategies and tactics of national liberation, class emancipation and human liberations in our era. Thus, it can be said that the revolutionary theory of Kimilsungism is a perfect revolutionary theory of Communism in the era of Juche . According to analyst Shin Gi-wook, the ideas of Juche and Kimilsungism are in essence the "expressions of North Korean particularism over supposedly more universalistic Marxism–Leninism". The new terminology signalled
1887-677: A purge of pro-Soviet and pro-Chinese elements from the WPK. North Korea rejected the de-Stalinization efforts of Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev but avoided taking sides during the Sino-Soviet split . North Korea was admitted to the Non-Aligned Movement in 1975 and has since presented itself as a leader of the Third World , promoting Juche as a model for developing countries to follow. National survival has been seen as
1998-477: A series of opinions on building of Socialism and Communism, but it confined itself to presupposition and hypothesis owing to the limitations of the conditions of their ages and practical experiences ... But many countries applied the principles of Marxist–Leninist materialistic conception of history dogmatically, failing to advance revolution continually after the establishment of the socialist system. North Korea would not encounter such difficulties because of
2109-568: Is " Juche 113" as 2024 − 1911 = 113. When used, " Juche years" are often accompanied by the Gregorian equivalent, i.e. " Juche 113, 2024" or " Juche 113 (2024)". The goal of Juche is to establish a self-reliant state that independently determines its political, economic, and military affairs. Kim Il Sung summarized the application of this objective to North Korea in a 1967 speech to the Supreme People's Assembly titled "Let Us Embody
2220-619: Is also generated by longstanding alliances, military involvement, and diplomacy, such as between South Korea–United States and China–North Korea since the end of World War II and the Korean War . Along with other languages such as Chinese and Arabic , Korean is ranked at the top difficulty level for English speakers by the United States Department of Defense . Modern Korean descends from Middle Korean , which in turn descends from Old Korean , which descends from
2331-656: Is an agglutinative language . The Korean language is traditionally considered to have nine parts of speech . Modifiers generally precede the modified words, and in the case of verb modifiers, can be serially appended. The sentence structure or basic form of a Korean sentence is subject–object–verb (SOV), but the verb is the only required and immovable element and word order is highly flexible, as in many other agglutinative languages. Question 가게에 gage-e store- LOC 가셨어요? ga-syeo-sseo-yo go- HON . PAST - CONJ - POL 가게에 가셨어요? gage-e ga-syeo-sseo-yo store-LOC go-HON.PAST-CONJ-POL 'Did [you] go to
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#17327731433992442-511: Is closer to a near-open central vowel ( [ɐ] ), though ⟨a⟩ is still used for tradition. Grammatical morphemes may change shape depending on the preceding sounds. Examples include -eun/-neun ( -은/-는 ) and -i/-ga ( -이/-가 ). Sometimes sounds may be inserted instead. Examples include -eul/-reul ( -을/-를 ), -euro/-ro ( -으로/-로 ), -eseo/-seo ( -에서/-서 ), -ideunji/-deunji ( -이든지/-든지 ) and -iya/-ya ( -이야/-야 ). Some verbs may also change shape morphophonemically. Korean
2553-406: Is law-governed, but that it is only man who drives progress, stating that "the popular masses are the drivers of history". The process for the masses to reach consciousness, independence, and creativity requires the "leadership of a great leader". Marxism–Leninism argues that the popular masses will lead (on the basis of their relation to production), but in North Korea the role of a correct leadership
2664-399: Is mainly reserved for specific circumstances such as newspapers, scholarly papers and disambiguation. Today Hanja is largely unused in everyday life but is still important for historical and linguistic studies. The Korean names for the language are based on the names for Korea used in both South Korea and North Korea. The English word "Korean" is derived from Goryeo , which is thought to be
2775-749: Is not the perfection of political independence alone. The evil forces craftily manipulate the economic levers in order to perpetuate their supremacy and reduce us to vassals and eternal mendicants. The North Korean government established the International Institute of the Juche Idea (initially the International Juche Research Centre) in Tokyo in 1978 to supervise international Juche study groups' activities. Tribute plaques from these groups are contained in
2886-399: Is of faucalized consonants. They are produced with a partially constricted glottis and additional subglottal pressure in addition to tense vocal tract walls, laryngeal lowering, or other expansion of the larynx. /s/ is aspirated [sʰ] and becomes an alveolo-palatal [ɕʰ] before [j] or [i] for most speakers (but see North–South differences in the Korean language ). This occurs with
2997-534: Is often defined in opposition to the Korean concept of Sadae , or reliance on the great powers. South Koreans use the word without reference to the North Korean ideology. The ideology is officially known as Juche sasang ( 주체사상 ) in Korean and the Juche idea in English. Juche sasang literally means " subject idea" and has also been translated as Juche thought or Jucheism. Adherents of Juche are sometimes referred to as "Jucheists". Official statements by
3108-726: Is one of the largest on earth and has developed its own nuclear missiles. It produces UDMH fuel for liquid-fueled missiles and Tumansky RD-9 Turbojet engines, which power the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 and Shenyang J-6 . CNC machines produce missiles and centrifuges. North Korea's propaganda since the Korean War has contrasted its military autonomy with the presence of U.S. forces in the South. Kim Il Sung believed that Juche 's principles could be applied worldwide. North Korea has organized international seminars on Juche since 1976. The International Scientific Seminar on
3219-437: Is required to organize a unified and effective group. South Korean political scientist Lee Kyo-duk argues that Suryong helped Kim Il Sung establish a unitary system over North Korea. The theory says the leader has a decisive role as an absolute supreme leader. The leader is like the brain of the working class, who is the driving force of revolution. The leader is also a flawless human being who never commits mistakes, who guides
3330-619: Is the Arirang Festival , a gymnastic and artistic festival held in the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in Pyongyang. All components of the festival, from the selection of performers, mobilization of resources, recruitment of the audience, and publicity for the show have been compared to facets of a national religious event. Korean language Korean ( South Korean : 한국어 , Hanguk-eo ; North Korean : 조선어 , Chosŏnŏ )
3441-544: Is the native language for about 81 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the national language of both North Korea and South Korea . Beyond Korea, the language is recognized as a minority language in parts of China , namely Jilin , and specifically Yanbian Prefecture , and Changbai County . It is also spoken by Sakhalin Koreans in parts of Sakhalin , the Russian island just north of Japan, and by
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3552-747: Is well attested in Western Old Japanese and Northern Ryukyuan languages , in Eastern Old Japanese it only occurs in compounds, and it is only present in three dialects of the Southern Ryukyuan language group . Also, the doublet wo meaning "hemp" is attested in Western Old Japanese and Southern Ryukyuan languages. It is thus plausible to assume a borrowed term. (See Classification of the Japonic languages or Comparison of Japanese and Korean for further details on
3663-521: The Koryo-saram in parts of Central Asia . The language has a few extinct relatives which—along with the Jeju language (Jejuan) of Jeju Island and Korean itself—form the compact Koreanic language family . Even so, Jejuan and Korean are not mutually intelligible . The linguistic homeland of Korean is suggested to be somewhere in contemporary Manchuria . The hierarchy of the society from which
3774-527: The yangban aristocracy, who looked down upon it too easy to learn. However, it gained widespread use among the common class and was widely used to print popular novels which were enjoyed by the common class. Since few people could understand official documents written in classical Chinese, Korean kings sometimes released public notices entirely written in Hangul as early as the 16th century for all Korean classes, including uneducated peasants and slaves. By
3885-588: The Juche Idea took place in Antananarivo , Madagascar , from 28 to 30 September 1976 under the sponsorship of the Democratic Republic of Madagascar . Many prominent party and government officials, public figures, representatives of revolutionary and progressive organizations, scientists and journalists from more than 50 countries attended. Malagasy President Didier Ratsiraka expressed strong sympathy and support for North Korea. An excerpt from
3996-687: The Juche Idea" ( 우리 나라 사회주의는 주체 사상을 구현한 우리식 사회주의이다 ). Speaking after the Revolutions of 1989 that brought down the Eastern Bloc countries, Kim Jong Il explicitly stated that North Korea needed – and survived because of – Socialism of Our Style. He argued that socialism in Eastern Europe failed because they "imitated the Soviet experience in a mechanical manner". According to Kim, they failed to understand that
4107-867: The Juche Tower in Pyongyang . In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Black Panther Party of the United States studied Juche . In 2016, the Nepal Workers' and Peasants' Party declared Juche its guiding idea. A number of far-right groups have also adopted Juche . The Order of Nine Angles -affiliated Rural People's Party adheres to Juche and reportedly has connections with North Korean officials. The Atomwaffen Division also promotes Juche . Songun ( 선군정치 ; Sŏn'gun chŏngch'i ; lit. military-first politics)
4218-416: The Kim family 's monopoly over political power in North Korea. However, Myers dismisses the idea that Juche is North Korea's leading ideology, regarding its public exaltation as designed to deceive foreigners. He argues that it exists to be praised and not actually read. Based on his experience living in North Korea, Swiss businessman Felix Abt calls Myers's arguments "shaky" and "questionable". Having seen
4329-496: The Korean language at around the turn of the century and retained this meaning. Shutai went on to appear in Japanese translations of Karl Marx 's writings. North Korean editions of Marx used the word Juche even before the word was attributed to Kim Il Sung in its supposedly novel meaning in 1955. In contemporary political discourse on North Korea, Juche has a connotation of "self-reliance", "autonomy", and "independence". It
4440-589: The Proto-Koreanic language , which is generally suggested to have its linguistic homeland somewhere in Manchuria . Whitman (2012) suggests that the proto-Koreans, already present in northern Korea, expanded into the southern part of the Korean Peninsula at around 300 BC and coexisted with the descendants of the Japonic Mumun cultivators (or assimilated them). Both had influence on each other and
4551-568: The Three Kingdoms of Korea (not the ancient confederacies in the southern Korean Peninsula), while " -eo " and " -mal " mean "language" and "speech", respectively. Korean is also simply referred to as guk-eo , literally "national language". This name is based on the same Han characters ( 國語 "nation" + "language") that are also used in Taiwan and Japan to refer to their respective national languages. In North Korea and China ,
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4662-733: The Workers' Party of Korea in 1946, soon after its founding; from 1949 to 1953, he was sent to study at Moscow University in the Soviet Union . Upon his return to North Korea, he became head lecturer in philosophy at Kim Il Sung University . He would later ascend to the presidency of that university in April 1965. Sometime in the late 1950s, Hwang discovered a 1955 speech, On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and Establishing Juche in Ideological Work , in which Kim Il Sung said, " Juche means Chosun's revolution" ( Chosun being
4773-542: The individual , the nation state , and national sovereignty . Juche posits that a country will prosper once it has become self-reliant by achieving political, economic, and military independence. As Kim Jong Il emerged as Kim Il Sung's likely successor in the 1970s, loyalty to the leader was increasingly emphasized as an essential part of Juche , as expressed in the Ten Principles for the Establishment of
4884-408: The " Juche fiber", which was invented by a Korean and is made from locally available coal and limestone. The history of vinylon often features in propaganda that preaches the virtues of technological self-reliance. North Korea had 10,000 CNC machines in 2010. The first domestic homemade CNC machine was introduced in 1995, and in 2017 it had around 15,000 machines. Commentators have often pointed out
4995-889: The 17th century, the yangban had exchanged Hangul letters with slaves, which suggests a high literacy rate of Hangul during the Joseon era. In the context of growing Korean nationalism in the 19th century, the Gabo Reform of 1894 abolished the Confucian examinations and decreed that government documents would be issued in Hangul instead of literary Chinese. Some newspapers were published entirely in Hangul, but other publications used Korean mixed script , with Hanja for Sino-Korean vocabulary and Hangul for other elements. North Korea abolished Hanja in writing in 1949, but continues to teach them in schools. Their usage in South Korea
5106-461: The 1965 speech. On the Juche Idea , the principal work on Juche , was published under Kim Jong Il 's name in 1982. In North Korea it serves as "the authoritative and comprehensive explanation of Juche ". According to the treatise, the WPK is responsible for educating the masses in the ways of Juche thinking. Juche is inexorably linked with Kim Il Sung and "represents the guiding idea of
5217-408: The 20th century. The script uses 24 basic letters ( jamo ) and 27 complex letters formed from the basic ones. When first recorded in historical texts, Korean was only a spoken language . Since the turn of the 21st century, aspects of Korean culture have spread to other countries through globalization and cultural exports . As such, interest in Korean language acquisition (as a foreign language )
5328-666: The 4th Conference of the Workers' Party of Korea in April 2012. Party members at the conference also stated that the WPK was "the party of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il" and declared Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism "the only guiding idea of the party". Afterwards, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) stated that "the Korean people have long called the revolutionary policies ideas of the President [Kim Il Sung] and Kim Jong Il as Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism and recognized it as
5439-466: The American presence in nearby South Korea. Thanks to Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il argued, the revolution had "put forward original lines and policies suited to our people's aspirations and the specific situation of our country". "The Juche idea is a revolutionary theory which occupies the highest stage of development of the revolutionary ideology of the working class", Kim Jong Il said, further stating that
5550-479: The Juche Idea : "Independence is not in conflict with internationalism but is the basis of its strengthening". Kim Il Sung acknowledged that it was important for North Korea to learn from other socialist states, in particular the Soviet Union and China, but did not want to follow their examples dogmatically. He said the WPK must "resolutely repudiate the tendency to swallow things of others undigested or imitate them mechanically", attributing North Korea's early success to
5661-490: The Korean people's blood, soul, and national traits, echoing earlier Korean nationalists such as Sin Chaeho , Yi Kwangsu, and Choe Namson . Shin believes that the key difference between Marxism–Leninism and Juche is that the latter places ideology above materialism; the vocabulary of family lineage and nationalism is retained and given primacy over class struggle , while social distinction and hierarchy are supported instead of
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#17327731433995772-480: The Korean revolution". Although Juche is rooted in Marxism–Leninism, it is not merely a creative application of the ideas of Marx and Lenin to Korean conditions. Rather, it is a "new phase of revolutionary theory" and represents "a new era in the development of human history". Kim Jong Il also criticized the Korean communists and nationalists of the 1920s for their "elitist posture", saying they were "divorced from
5883-486: The North Korean government attribute the origin of Juche to Kim Il Sung's experiences in the Down-with-Imperialism Union during Korea's liberation struggle against Japan. However, the first documented reference to Juche as an ideology dates to 1955, when Kim Il Sung delivered a speech titled " On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and Establishing Juche in Ideological Work ". The speech promoted
5994-837: The North. Hwang contributed to the Daily NK , an online newspaper set up by South Koreans with North Korean staff. He described his feelings surrounding the defection in the paper. In April 2010, the South Korean National Intelligence Service announced that it had arrested two North Korean agents who had allegedly been sent to assassinate Hwang. The two agents had reportedly trained for four years in preparation for their mission. They had posed as defectors, but were discovered during questioning by South Korean authorities. They claimed that they would receive assistance from North Korean sympathisers in
6105-468: The Originality of Kimilsungism", Kim Jong Il said that Kimilsungism comprises the " Juche idea and a far-reaching revolutionary theory and leadership method evolved from this idea". He further added that "Kimilsungism is an original idea that cannot be explained within the frameworks of Marxism–Leninism. The Juche idea, which constitutes the quintessence of Kimilsungism, is an idea newly discovered in
6216-475: The Party and the masses is guaranteed by the single ideology and united leadership. Critics have called Juche a nationalist ideology and a departure from Marxist–Leninist principles. American Koreanist Brian Reynolds Myers argues that Juche has more in common with Japanese fascism and ultranationalism than Marxism–Leninism. Korean political scientist Suh Dae-sook argues that Kim Il Sung did not explain
6327-543: The Revolutionary Spirit of Independence, Self-sustenance and Self-defence More Thoroughly in All Fields of State Activity": First, the government of the republic will implement with all consistency the line of independence, self-sufficiency, and self-defence to consolidate the political independence of the country, build up more solidly the foundations of an independent national economy capable of insuring
6438-542: The South Korean embassy. Three days later, North Korean defector Yi Han-yong , the nephew of Kim Jong Il's mistress Song Hye-rim , was shot outside of his home in South Korea in Bundang , Gyeonggi Province , by unknown assailants widely suspected to be North Korean special forces agents; South Korean Prime Minister Lee Soo-sung described the attack as retaliation for Hwang's defection. A few days later, Kim Jong Il
6549-475: The South, but refused to give any names when questioned. Hwang commented on the assassination attempt, "Death is just death. There is no difference from dying of old age or being killed by Kim Jong Il." In June 2010, South Korea sentenced the two would-be assassins to 10 years in prison. Hwang was found dead in his home in Seoul, South Korea, on the morning of 10 October 2010. Initial reports stated that he died of
6660-486: The Soviet experience was based on specific historical and social circumstances and could not be used by other countries aside from the Soviet Union itself. He added that "if experience is considered absolute and accepted dogmatically it is impossible to build Socialism properly, as the times change and the specific situation of each country is different from another". Kim Jong Il went on to criticize "dogmatic application" of Marxism–Leninism, stating: Marxism–Leninism presented
6771-619: The Unification Policy Research Institute to spread his message. However, under the Sunshine Policy of president Kim Dae-jung , who took office in 1998, Hwang found himself increasingly marginalised; in November 2000, he was removed from the chairmanship of the Unification Policy Research Institute, leading him to complain that the South Korean government wanted him to stay quiet so as not to upset
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#17327731433996882-438: The WPK's independence in policymaking. Military self-reliance ( 자위 ; jawi ) is also crucial for a state to maintain its political independence. To accomplish military self-reliance, states must develop a domestic defence industry to avoid dependence on foreign arms suppliers. Kim Jong Il argued that it was acceptable for socialist states to receive military aid from their allies but that such aid would be effective only if
6993-455: The beginnings of words. /l/ becomes alveolar flap [ɾ] between vowels, and [l] or [ɭ] at the end of a syllable or next to another /l/ . A written syllable-final ' ㄹ ', when followed by a vowel or a glide ( i.e. , when the next character starts with ' ㅇ '), migrates to the next syllable and thus becomes [ɾ] . Traditionally, /l/ was disallowed at the beginning of a word. It disappeared before [j] , and otherwise became /n/ . However,
7104-485: The center of everything, and the leader is the center of the masses". Juche , North Korea maintains, is a "man-centered ideology" in which "man is the master of everything and decides everything". In contrast to Marxism–Leninism, in which a people's decisions are conditioned by their relations to the means of production , Juche argues that people's decisions take consideration of, but are independent from, external factors. Just like Marxism–Leninism, Juche believes history
7215-401: The commemorations of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il to Confucian ancestor worship . Ju Jun-hui similarly contends that Korean shamanism influenced Juche , comparing the ecstatic state experienced in a shamanic ritual ( gut ) to the enthusiasm and fervor North Koreans display for their supreme leader. Armstrong accordingly calls Juche a quasi-religion . The ideology teaches that the role of
7326-596: The complete unification, independence, and prosperity of our nation and increasing the country's defence capabilities, so as to safeguard the security of the fatherland reliably by our own force, by splendidly embodying our party's idea of Juche in all fields. Political independence ( 자주 ; jaju ) is a core principle of Juche . Juche stresses equality and mutual respect among nations, Juche's emphasis on self-reliance and national sovereignty has resonated beyond North Korea, influencing independence movements in countries such as Zimbabwe and Angola, where leaders saw it as
7437-408: The conceiving of Juche . In his words, North Korea was "a backward, colonial semifeudal society" when the communists took over, but since the North Korean communists did not accept Marxism , which was based on European experiences with capitalism , or Leninism , which was based on Russia's experience, they conceived of Juche . He believed that the situation in North Korea was more complex because of
7548-478: The country's founder and first leader. Juche was originally regarded as a variant of Marxism–Leninism until Kim Jong Il , Kim Il Sung's son and successor, declared it a distinct ideology in the 1970s. Kim Jong Il further developed Juche in the 1980s and 1990s by making ideological breaks from Marxism–Leninism and increasing the importance of his father's ideas. Juche incorporates the historical materialist ideas of Marxism–Leninism but also strongly emphasizes
7659-435: The country's guiding principle. The parallel relationship structure between Kim Il Sung and his people and religious founders or leaders and their followers has led many scholars to consider Juche a religious movement as much as a political ideology. However, those familiar with cults posit that Juche bypasses the tenets of religion completely and instead meets the criteria of a totalitarian cult. Juche 's emphasis on
7770-420: The difference between socialist patriotism , which he said he supported, and nationalism, which he said he opposed. Suh also criticized Kim Il Sung's initial conceptualization of Juche , saying that he had failed to explain how Marxism–Leninism had been applied to Korean conditions. American historian Derek R. Ford, by contrast, emphasizes the continuity between Marxism–Leninism and Juche , and credits Juche as
7881-427: The discrepancy between the principle of self-sufficiency and North Korea's dependence on foreign aid, especially during its economic crisis in the 1990s. The pursuit of economic autarky has been blamed for contributing to the crisis. On this view, attempts at self-sufficiency led to inefficiency and to the neglect of export opportunities in industries where there was a comparative advantage . The Korean People's Army
7992-561: The end, he would never listen." Hwang, along with his aide Kim Duk-hong, the president of a North Korean trading firm in Beijing, defected on returning from a February 1997 trip to Tokyo by walking into the South Korean embassy in Beijing and posing as South Korean diplomats with the use of fake South Korean passports. Once their true identities were discovered, Pyongyang immediately threatened retaliation, while Beijing police sealed off
8103-581: The establishment of a unified Arab state based on socialism and national self-reliance. South Korean political commentator Park Sang-seek argues that Syrian Ba'athism in particular has rhetorical similarities to Juche , but the latter has a stronger ideological basis. A number of scholars have compared facets of Juche to those of preexisting Korean religions . Jung Tae-il argues that certain elements of Christianity , Cheondoism , and Confucianism were appropriated by and incorporated into Juche . Korean cultural anthropologists Byung Ho Chung and Heonik Kwon liken
8214-482: The extent to which North Korean university students actually believe in Juche , Abt says it is "rather absurd" to call it "window-dressing" for foreigners. American historian Bruce Cumings and Professor of International Relations Christoph Hartmut Bluth similarly argue that Juche is not mere rhetoric, but rather an ideal of self-reliance that North Korea has attempted to implement. Juche has been compared to Ba'athism , an Arab nationalist ideology that advocates
8325-399: The first Korean dynasty known to Western nations. Korean people in the former USSR refer to themselves as Koryo-saram or Koryo-in (literally, " Koryo/Goryeo persons"), and call the language Koryo-mal' . Some older English sources also use the spelling "Corea" to refer to the nation, and its inflected form for the language, culture and people, "Korea" becoming more popular in
8436-637: The first reference to Juche as an ideology was on 14 April 1965, when Kim Il Sung gave a speech in Indonesia titled "On Socialist Construction in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the South Korean Revolution" ( 조선민주주의인민공화국에서의사회주의건설과남조선혁명에대하여 ). Lankov posits that the 1955 speech "used the word in a different meaning" and that Juche was adopted as the "basic ideological principle of North Korean politics" only after
8547-829: The founder and leader of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea from its inception. In 1972, Hwang became Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly , a position which he would hold for 11 years. In 1983, however, he was removed from the Assembly and his standing deteriorated; though he had been Kim Jong Il 's teacher at Kim Il Sung University, Kim now spoke to him only to criticize him, specifically admonishing him for taking too close an interest in China's capitalist reforms . Remarking on his role as advisor to Kim Jong Il, Hwang stated: "When I proposed something, he would pretend to listen at first, but in
8658-435: The guiding of the nation". Kim Jong Un , the son of Kim Jong Il who succeeded him as leader of the WPK, said: Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism is an integral system of the idea, theory and method of Juche and a great revolutionary ideology representative of the Juche era. Guided by Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism, we should conduct Party building and Party activities, so as to sustain the revolutionary character of our Party and advance
8769-465: The guiding principle that allowed North Korea to survive the collapse of the Eastern Bloc . American historian Charles K. Armstrong argues that North Korea may appear "Stalinist in form" but is "nationalist in content". Shin Gi-wook similarly argues that "there is no trace of Marxism–Leninism or the Stalinist notion of nationhood" in North Korea, and its government instead stresses the importance of
8880-528: The highest military body, was designated the supreme body of the state by a 1998 revision of the North Korean Constitution . The Songun era is considered to have begun with this revision. In late 2021, Kim Jong Un declared that the "military-first" politics of Songun would be replaced by "people-first politics" ( 인민대중제일주의 ) guided by himself. Suryong ( 수령형상창조 ; Suryŏng hyŏngsang ch'angjo ; lit. creation of
8991-636: The highest-ranking North Korean to have defected . Hwang was born in Kangdong , Heian'nan-dō , Korea, Empire of Japan (now in South Pyongan Province , North Korea). He graduated from the Pyongyang Commercial School in 1941, and then went to Tokyo in 1942 to attend Chuo University 's law school; however, he quit two years later and returned to Pyongyang, where he taught mathematics at his old school. He joined
9102-404: The history of mankind". Kim Jong Il went further, stating that Marxism–Leninism had become obsolete and must be replaced by Kimilsungism: The revolutionary theory of Kimilsungism is a revolutionary theory which has provided solutions to problems arising in the revolutionary practice in a new age different from the era that gave rise to Marxism–Leninism. On the basis of Juche idea, the leader gave
9213-480: The ideas of Kim Il Sung, while the Ten Principles serve as a guide for North Korean political and social life. Kim Jong Il argued that his father's ideas had evolved and they therefore deserved their own distinct name. North Korean state media had previously described Kim Il Sung's ideas as "contemporary Marxism–Leninism "; by calling them "Kimilsungism", Kim Jong Il sought to elevate the ideas of his father to
9324-479: The inflow of western loanwords changed the trend, and now word-initial /l/ (mostly from English loanwords) are pronounced as a free variation of either [ɾ] or [l] . All obstruents (plosives, affricates, fricatives) at the end of a word are pronounced with no audible release , [p̚, t̚, k̚] . Plosive sounds /p, t, k/ become nasals [m, n, ŋ] before nasal sounds. Hangul spelling does not reflect these assimilatory pronunciation rules, but rather maintains
9435-408: The issue between Japanese and Korean, including Alexander Vovin, have argued that the indicated similarities are not due to any genetic relationship , but rather to a sprachbund effect and heavy borrowing, especially from Ancient Korean into Western Old Japanese . A good example might be Middle Korean sàm and Japanese asá , meaning " hemp ". This word seems to be a cognate, but although it
9546-578: The language is most often called Joseon-mal , or more formally, Joseon-o . This is taken from the North Korean name for Korea (Joseon), a name retained from the Joseon dynasty until the proclamation of the Korean Empire , which in turn was annexed by the Empire of Japan . In mainland China , following the establishment of diplomatic relations with South Korea in 1992, the term Cháoxiǎnyǔ or
9657-410: The language of Marxism–Leninism, saying: The political and ideological might of the motive force of revolution is nothing but the power of single-hearted unity between the leader, the Party, and the masses. In our socialist society, the leader, the Party, and the masses throw in their lot with one another, forming a single socio-political organism. The consolidation of blood relations between the leader,
9768-472: The language originates deeply influences the language, leading to a system of speech levels and honorifics indicative of the formality of any given situation. Modern Korean is written in the Korean script ( 한글 ; Hangeul in South Korea, 조선글 ; Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea), a system developed during the 15th century for that purpose, although it did not become the primary script until
9879-455: The late 1800s. In South Korea the Korean language is referred to by many names including hanguk-eo ("Korean language"), hanguk-mal ("Korean speech") and uri-mal ("our language"); " hanguk " is taken from the name of the Korean Empire ( 대한제국 ; 大韓帝國 ; Daehan Jeguk ). The " han " ( 韓 ) in Hanguk and Daehan Jeguk is derived from Samhan , in reference to
9990-432: The late 1950s, when Kim Il Sung, having established a cult of personality , sought to develop his own version of Marxism–Leninism and solidify his position in the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Hwang expanded upon the meaning of Juche and rewrote Korean communist history to make it appear as though Kim Il Sung had been the WPK's leader since its inception. Andrei Lankov , a Russian scholar of Korean studies, argues that
10101-417: The lead figure) is a revolutionary theory concerning the relationship between leadership and society. Unlike Marxism–Leninism, which considers developments in the material conditions of production and exchange as the driving force of historical progress (known as historical materialism ), Juche considers human beings in general the driving force in history. It is summarized as "the popular masses are placed in
10212-783: The masses". The North Korean government issued a decree on 8 July 1997, the third anniversary of the death of Kim Il Sung , declaring the adoption of the Juche calendar . The Central People's Committee [ ja ] promulgated regulations regarding its use in August, and the calendar entered public usage on 9 September, the Day of the Foundation of the Republic . Gregorian calendar dates are used for years before 1912 while years after 1912 (the year of Kim Il Sung's birth ) are called " Juche years". The Gregorian year 2024, for example,
10323-428: The masses. The popular masses are the driving force of history, but they require the guidance of the party leadership. Kimilsungism ( 김일성주의 ) and the Ten Principles for the Establishment of a Monolithic Ideological System were formally introduced by Kim Jong Il in 1974. Kim Jong Il reportedly did so to strengthen his position within the WPK, taking advantage of his father's political supremacy. Kimilsungism refers to
10434-505: The opening speech says: Regardless of the opposition forces, the determination of the people and their strength and conviction are not measured by territorial dimensions, possession of advanced technology, still less, opulence or riches. For those who wish to forget the lesson of history so easily and so quickly, Algeria , Vietnam , Guinea-Bissau , Mozambique , Angola —and, closer to us, Zimbabwe , Namibia , and Azania —are excellent examples which make them deeply reflect on. What we want
10545-417: The originality and superiority of the Juche idea defined and strengthened Korean socialism. He then conceded by stating that Socialism of Our Style was "a man-centered Socialism", explicitly making a break with basic Marxist–Leninist thought, which argues that material forces are the driving force of historical progress, not people. Socialism of Our Style was presented as an organic sociopolitical theory, using
10656-485: The political and sacred role of the leader and the ensuing worship by the popular masses has been critiqued by various Western Marxists, who argue that the North Korean proletariat has been stripped of its honor, and call the cult of personality non-Marxist and undemocratic. The religious behavior of Juche can also be seen in the perspectives of the North Korean people through refugee interviews from former participants in North Korea's ritual occasions. One pertinent example
10767-515: The population was illiterate. In the 15th century King Sejong the Great personally developed an alphabetic featural writing system , known today as Hangul , to promote literacy among the common people. Introduced in the document Hunminjeongeum , it was called eonmun ('colloquial script') and quickly spread nationwide to increase literacy in Korea. The Korean alphabet was denounced by
10878-441: The principle of giving priority to the military and resolving the problems that may occur in the course of revolution and construction as well as establishing the military as the main body of the revolution in the course of achieving the total tasks of socialism". While the article often referred to "our Party", this was not a reference to the WPK but rather to the personal leadership of Kim Jong Il. The National Defence Commission ,
10989-469: The revolution and construction in line with the ideas and intentions of the President [Kim Il Sung] and the General [Kim Jong Il]. "Socialism of Our Style" ( 우리식사회주의 ), also referred to as "Korean-style socialism" and "our-style socialism" within North Korea, is an ideological concept Kim Jong Il introduced on 27 December 1990 in the speech "Socialism of Our Country is a Socialism of Our Style as Embodied by
11100-440: The same level of prestige as Stalinism and Maoism . Not long after the introduction of "Kimilsungism" into the North Korean lexicon , Kim Jong Il began calling for a "Kimilsungist transformation" of North Korean society. Political analyst Lim Jae-cheon argues that there is no discernible difference between Kimilsungism and Juche , and that the two terms are interchangeable. However, in his 1976 speech "On Correctly Understanding
11211-669: The short form Cháoyǔ has normally been used to refer to the standard language of North Korea and Yanbian , whereas Hánguóyǔ or the short form Hányǔ is used to refer to the standard language of South Korea. Korean is a member of the Koreanic family along with the Jeju language . Some linguists have included it in the Altaic family, but the core Altaic proposal itself has lost most of its prior support. The Khitan language has several vocabulary items similar to Korean that are not found in other Mongolian or Tungusic languages, suggesting
11322-483: The state was militarily strong in its own right. North Korea maintained close relations with the Soviet Union and China during the Cold War, having emerged from Soviet occupation and a war it fought alongside Chinese communists. However, North Korea also opposed what it viewed as Soviet and Chinese attempts to interfere in its postwar affairs. For example, a failed challenge to Kim Il Sung's leadership in 1956 led to
11433-530: The store?' Response 예/네. ye/ne AFF Hwang Jang-yop Hwang Jang-yop ( Korean : 황장엽 ; 17 February 1923 – 10 October 2010) was a North Korean politician who defected to South Korea . He served as the Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly from 1972 to 1983 and was largely responsible for crafting Juche , the state ideology of North Korea. He defected in 1997,
11544-441: The tense fricative and all the affricates as well. At the end of a syllable, /s/ changes to /t/ (example: beoseot ( 버섯 ) 'mushroom'). /h/ may become a bilabial [ɸ] before [o] or [u] , a palatal [ç] before [j] or [i] , a velar [x] before [ɯ] , a voiced [ɦ] between voiced sounds, and a [h] elsewhere. /p, t, t͡ɕ, k/ become voiced [b, d, d͡ʑ, ɡ] between voiced sounds. /m, n/ frequently denasalize at
11655-438: The traditional name for Korea ). At the time, Kim wanted to develop his own version of Marxism-Leninism , and Hwang was largely responsible for developing what became known as "the Juche Idea." As part of this, he helped scrub all of the paeans to Joseph Stalin that had been typical of Kim's speeches in the 1940s and early 1950s. He also supervised the rewriting of Korean Communist history to make it look like Kim had been
11766-464: The underlying, partly historical morphology . Given this, it is sometimes hard to tell which actual phonemes are present in a certain word. The traditional prohibition of word-initial /ɾ/ became a morphological rule called "initial law" ( 두음법칙 ) in the pronunciation standards of South Korea, which pertains to Sino-Korean vocabulary. Such words retain their word-initial /ɾ/ in the pronunciation standards of North Korea. For example, ^NOTE ㅏ
11877-599: Was "as if Joseph Goebbels had defected from Nazi Germany ". After his defection, Hwang's wife back in North Korea died by suicide , and one of his daughters died under mysterious circumstances by falling off a truck; his other children, a daughter and a son, as well his grandchildren, are thought to have been sent to labour camps . After his arrival in South Korea, he became a harsh critic of North Korea, publishing over 12 books and treatises, many of which accused Kim Jong Il of "betraying Juche and building feudalism instead of socialism", and used his position as chairman of
11988-487: Was first introduced to Korea in the 1st century BC, and remained the medium of formal writing and government until the late 19th century. Korean scholars adapted Chinese characters (known in Korean as Hanja ) to write their own language, creating scripts known as idu , hyangchal , gugyeol , and gakpil. These systems were cumbersome, due to the fundamental disparities between the Korean and Chinese languages, and accessible only to those educated in classical Chinese. Most of
12099-612: Was first mentioned on 7 April 1997 in Rodong Sinmun under the headline "There Is a Victory for Socialism in the Guns and Bombs of the People's Army" ( 인민군대의 총창우에 사회주의의 승리가 있다 ). Its description in the article echoed the military-centered thinking of the time: "[ Songun is] the revolutionary philosophy to safeguard our own style of socialism under any circumstances". The concept was credited to Kim Jong Il, who posited that Songun
12210-498: Was quoted on Radio Pyongyang as saying, "Cowards, leave if you want to. We will defend the red flag of revolution to the end", a message seen as marking acceptance of Hwang's defection. Chinese authorities eventually permitted Hwang to depart for South Korea via the Philippines several weeks later. Considering Hwang's prominent role in the North Korean regime, his defection caused a stir, with The Washington Post saying it
12321-401: Was the next stage of development of Juche . A joint editorial entitled "Our Party's Military-First Politics Will Inevitably Achieve Victory and Will Never Be Defeated" ( 우리 당의 선군정치는 필승불패이다 ) was published by Kulloja and Rodong Sinmun (the WPK's theoretical magazine and newspaper, respectively) on 16 June 1999. In it, it was stated that Songun meant "the leadership method under
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