Extracts from the Work "Our Socialism Centred On the Popular Masses Shall Not Perish " by Leader Kim Jong Il

Socialism in our country is the socialism of our own style; it is the application of the great Juche idea and is centred upon the popular masses.

The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, in founding the Juche idea many years ago, reflected the aspirations of the masses and the requirements of the times. He has thus provided our age, the age of independence, with a new guiding ideology


Our socialism for the masses meets the aspirations and desires of the working class most thoroughly. The Juche idea is the revolutionary ideology of the working class, and it represents the desires of the working class. It identifies the working class as the core of the driving force of the revolution. The working class embodies in itself at the highest level man’s intrinsic desire to live and develop independently and creatively. It requires that man leads an independent and creative life, free from all manner of enslavement and bondage. It has the historical mission of emancipating not only itself but all the members of society from every form of enslavement and bondage and bringing complete independence to the popular masses.



The members of a social collective are bound together by both the interests of the collective and those of individuals. The manner of combining these two categories of interests is an important factor that determines the progressive character of the social system. A capitalist society is ruled by egoism which sets the interests of the community against those of individuals and places the interests of individuals above those of the community. Egoism inevitably results in social inequality and “an increasing imbalance between rich and poor”, and it produces conflicting relations among people. Egoism conflicts with the intrinsic nature of man as a social being. Because he is a social being capable of shaping his destiny only within the social community, man has an intrinsic need for collectivism. The Juche idea has made clear that the masses, and not an individual, are the driving force of the revolution and that collectivism, and not egoism, is an intrinsic requirement of man. The basic requirement of collectivism is that the interests of the collective should be placed above those of individuals, that the two types of interests should be harmonized and that the interests of individuals should be realized through the realization of those of the collective. That which is contrary to collectivism is not the individual interests themselves but egoism which seeks to satisfy only individual interests at the expense of collective interests. In our socialist society, which is the application of the man-centred Juche idea, the interests of every individual are respected, and the maximum social benefits and consideration are accorded to every member of the society, on the basis of protecting the interests of the collective thoroughly, and the relationship of the unity and cooperation of the whole society is fully mature.


Socialism is a cause for the popular masses, and socialism and the interests of the masses can never be separated. In order to safeguard the interests of the masses, we must be faithful to the cause of socialism, and in order to champion the cause of socialism, we must thoroughly safeguard the interests of the masses. The aspirations and demands of the popular masses are the criterion for judging the truth of all social phenomena and the guide to all revolutionary activities. In future, too, we must at all times attach prime importance to the interests of the masses in the revolution and construction and deal with everything to meet them. We must firmly maintain the principle of thoroughly defending the fundamental interests of the popular masses and meeting their immediate interests by closely combining the two.


Because it has adhered to the Juche stand in the revolution and construction, our Party has been able to uphold the dignity of the nation and revolutionary principles under all circumstances, however complicated, and firmly carry forward the cause of socialism. The prevailing complex situation requires that we should maintain the Juche stand still more firmly in the revolution and construction. With the imperialists and reactionaries resorting to vicious anti-socialist manoeuvres and directing the spearhead of their attack at those countries which maintain revolutionary principles, we must adhere to the Juche stand in the revolution and construction more firmly than ever before. We must be fully aware that adhering to this stand is vital to the destiny of the country and the nation, and consistently implement the Party’s line and policy of independence, solving all problems to suit the situation in our country by drawing on the creativity of our people.