Reflections on the 45th anniversary of the foundation of the International Institute of the Juche Idea (IIJI) special article by Dr Dermot Hudson .

The International Institute of the Juche Idea(IIJI) was founded in Tokyo , Japan one spring day , 45 years ago on the 9th of April 1978. Its formation reflected the fact that the Juche Idea, authored by President KIM IL SUNG , had spread beyond the borders of People’s Korea and was being actively studied on a worldwide scale .This is something that dogmatists and flunkeys to big powers have long tried to deny and hide . Such people take a very dismissive and insulting attitude to the great Juche idea ,saying that a small country like the DPRK could create a great ideology , that only big powers could create a great ideology.

The influence of the Juche Idea spread beyond the borders of the DPRK in the late 60s when fierce anti-imperialist struggles were waged throughout the world and people grasped the truth of the Juche Idea and wanted to apply it in their own countries. The first Juche Idea Study Group was formed in the West African country of Mali. Seminars on the Juche idea in different regions of the world were held . In September 1977 an international seminar on the Juche Idea was held in Pyongyang, the revolutionary capital of People’s Korea . It was attended by not only many Juche Idea Study Groups but also revolutionary parties such the Chilean Movement of the Revolutionary Left and the Revolutionary Workers Party of Argentina as well as national liberation movements such SWAPO and Polisario, It was decided at the seminar to establish an international body for the study and dissemination of the Juche idea .

Thus in April 1978 the International Institute of the Juche Idea came into being in Tokyo, Japan .It was founded by Juche idea researchers such as Kaoru Yasui and anti-imperialist progressive figures such as the Peruvian journalist Genaro Carnero Checa.

Since its foundation the IIJI has been active on an international scale as well as in different regions of the world. Space does not allow me to write in detail about all the activities of the IIJI which have been numerous . I recall the excellent congress on the Juche Idea and anti-imperialist independence held in September 2005 in Caracas , the capital of progressive and anti-imperialist Venezuela  .It was exciting to attend the Congress . There was a speaker from the Venezuelan government  . Most memorable was the World Congress on the Juche Idea held in April 2012 to mark the 110th anniversary of the birth of the great leader President KIM IL SUNG . It was attained by hundreds of delegates . The atmosphere was great . The delegates to the Congress were able to attend the amazing military parade on April 15th and hear the first ever public speech of respected Marshal KIM JONG UN.

I also met on several occasions Dr Vishwanath the late director general of the IIJI . I met him in both Pyongyang and the UK .. I always remember his catchphrase  which was ‘ Study the Juche Idea, it will cost you nothing but pay in plenty .’

Dr Dermot Hudson

Chairman , British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea

President Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK

Chairman Korean Friendship Association UK 

Official Delegate Korean Friendship Association for UK