Tomorrow 31st of March it will be 40 years since comrade KIM JONG IL published the immortal classic thesis work ‘ ON THE JUCHE IDEA ‘ . The work was sent to the National Seminar organised in the DPRK to mark the 70th anniversary of the birth of President KIM IL SUNG .
As it is well known, Juche is the guiding ideology of the DPRK . All the achievements of the DPRK are associated with the application of the Juche Idea . The 1972 edition of ‘ The Socialist Constitution of the DPRK Article 4 stipulated that the DPRK was guided by the Juche idea in all its activities.
The Juche Idea was first authored by President KIM IL SUNG and outlined in embryonic form in his famous speech ‘ ON THE PATH OF THE KOREAN REVOLUTION ‘ made in 1930 to young Korean revolutionaries . Later in 1955 President KIM IL SUNG made the historic speech ‘ On Eliminating Dogmatism And Formalism And Establishing Juche In Ideological Work’. In various talks with journalists from Japan and in other works in the early 1970s President KIM IL SUNG explained the Juche Idea .
In 1974 , the programme of modelling the whole society on the Juche idea was put forward . However , the Juche idea had not yet been presented in a systematic or in depth manner . This became an important question of the day , in fact a vital need . In April 1974 comrade KIM JONG IL published the work “On Some Questions In Understanding The Juche Philosophy’.
By publishing ‘ON THE JUCHE IDEA ‘ in 1982 ,comrade KIM JONG IL
answered the need for the Juche idea to be systematised and developed in depth .
ON THE JUCHE IDEA was the summation of many years of intense research and study by comrade KIM JONG IL who had begun working at the Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea in June 1964 and was elected secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers Party in September 1973.
The work “ON THE JUCHE IDEA ‘ is a magnum opus . It is the definitive work on the Juche idea ‘
The work is divided into 5 chapters :
1.Origin of the Juche Idea
2. Philosophical Principle of the Juche Idea
3.Socio-historical principle of the Juche Idea
4.Guiding Principles of the Juche Idea
5.Historic Significance .
I think it best to rather than give a very detailed summary of the work I will confine myself to a few remarks about the vitality and the correctness of the work so as to encourage people to go and read the work for themselves .
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I was particularly impressed by the section on the socio-historical principles of the Juche Idea . Previously Marxism-Leninism had talked about the historically progressive nature of capitalism which is to see it from only one side i.e the development of the productive forces . However as comrade KIM JONG IL says that "The history of human society is the history of the struggle of the popular masses to defend and realize independence.The leader said that all revolutionary struggles are struggles of the popular masses to defend their independence’
Referring to the change from feudalism to capitalism comrade KIM JONG IL says that " But that was only a replacement of the chains of slavery with feudal fetters, which in turn were replaced with the yoke of capital, not the abolition of class domination and oppression itself. In the history of human society, capitalism is the last exploiting system which tramples upon the masses's aspirations and demand for independence. It is a violently oppressive system which combines class domination with national oppression"
The above passage is a very incisive critique of capitalism and an excellent analysis of the nature of modern capitalism .
To put things in very simple and basic terms the work ON THE JUCHE IDEA is about the role of the human factor as opposed to the material/economic factor or one could say the subjective factor .
ON THE JUCHE IDEA postulates that the popular masses such the workers and peasants are the subject of history rather than the object of history .
As comrade KIM JONG IL said "The Juche idea defined man as the master who dominates the world, not merely as part of it, and thus established a new world outlook which, unlike preceding ones, regards the world and its changes and progress with man, its master,at the centre. The Juche viewpoint and stand on the world with man in the central place provide a sure guarantee for the independent and creative cognitional activities and practice of man who transforms the world and shapes his destiny”
I think this really defines the Juche idea .
Reading ON THE JUCHE IDEA I was convinced that the Juche Idea is not simply "Marxism-Leninism applied to Korea '' as claimed by some. As comrade KIM JONG IL himself states in the work ‘ In his early years of revolutionary activities, the leader was well versed in Marxism-Leninism. But he did not confine himself to applying Marxism-Leninism to the Korean revolution but pioneered a new phase of revolutionary theory from a steadfast Juche-based standpoint and resolved the problems arising in the revolutionary practice from a unique angle”
This is indeed true , the Juche idea represents a new stage in the ideological development of the working class .
The Juche Idea is a great revolutionary ideology and not just for Korea alone . To quote comrade KIM JONG IL again " By clearly showing how to stage a revolution in an independent and creative manner, the Juche idea has enabled the people of each country to have a strong sense of responsibility as the masters of the revolution, ridding themselves of the fetters of all outdated thoughts hampering independent progress; and it has also helped them to work out a policy which is suitable to the actual conditions in their country, according to their own views and belief, and to exploit their own creativeness to push ahead with the revolution. The opening up of the way to stage a revolution in an independent and creative manner has encouraged the people in different conditions of history and at different stages of development to carry on, confident of victory, the vigorous struggle to achieve national liberation and class emancipation and build socialism and communism”
Comrade KIM JONG IL very strongly stressed the role of ideology both in the revolutionary struggle and the work of socialist construction. He wrote that " The will and fighting power of people demonstrated in the evolutionary movement are also determined by their ideological consciousness. The level of the willpower and strength demonstrated by the people is determined by their ideology. Only those who have a firm consciousness of independence will be able to take an indomitable attitude towards the revolution, actively participate in it with a strong will, and struggle to the end, overcoming all difficulties and trials"
This teaching is like a secret weapon for revolutionaries. Society will not change of its own accord . No matter how many people there are unemployed and homeless, if the working class is not equipped with socialist ideology and class consciousness and worse still have their heads full of capitalist ideology such as individualism and consumerism then there will be no revolution . Similarly if in a socialist country people do not have the consciousness that they are the masters of society and worse still have no faith in the superiority of socialism , then people will not work properly,there will be losses in socialist construction and the eventual collapse of socialism .This has been proven in practice by the
traumatic events of 1989 to 1991.
After its publication in 1982 ON THE JUCHE IDEA was translated into many different languages and seminars were held on it were held all over the world . It was hailed as a new Communist Manifesto .A number of books such as ‘ The Immortal Juche Idea ‘ by Kim Chang Ha were written to explain the Juche Idea in depth .
"ON THE JUCHE IDEA '' is a powerful work that cuts through dogmatism , revisionism and the idea of relying on big powers . It is a new "Communist Manifesto'' of the times. I strongly recommend everyone to read and reread it.
Lastly , I will recommend not only reading not only ON THE JUCHE IDEA itself but the excellent books written by DPRK social scientists such as ‘ The Immortal Juche Idea ‘ by Kim Chang Ha , ‘ The Origination and Historical Significance of the Juche Idea ‘ by Kang Un Bin , ‘The Philosophical Significance of the Juche Idea by Li Song Jun and you can easily find online ‘ Man Destiny and the Juche Idea ‘ and ‘ Juche Idea , A Hundred Questions and Answers ‘
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