Kim IL Sung made this speech at a time when the Anti-Imperialist Peoples' Democratic Revolution was turning into a Socialist Revolution in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, when the building of socialism was the order of the day. The Korean Revolution at this stage faced many complex tasks as the construction of a socialist society in the circumstances of an intensified imperialist encirclement and the manoeuvres of the newly emergent modern revisionists. Under these historical conditions, it was urgently needed to overcome dogmatism and formalism in ideological activities and to establish Juche in all fields of the revolution and construction. Juche in ideological work means precisely the Korean Revolution; in other words, all political activities should be subordinated to the interests of the revolutionary processes within the DPRK. Establishing Juche in ideology was and is the primary requirement of the popular masses in the struggle for independence. In order to put Juche at the forefront of the revolution, the people need to think and act as the masters of society.
A mechanical, non-dialectical approach was taken by dogmatism (Trotskyism) that the revolution should be automatically victorious in one country after another, ignoring national political and cultural peculiarities. If a revolution triumphs or fails to materialise in a certain country, then the ultimate responsibility is down to the internal political forces, not the external circumstances. The Juche Idea explicitly states that the victory in the revolutionary cause is the duty of the popular masses within any given nation-state.
In the speech, Kim IL Sung refers to the tasks that must be achieved in the ideological campaign to solidify the Juche Idea in all areas of Party and State work. The Korean Communists are conducting the revolution and construction in the conditions of Korea, and not in any other country. Kim IL Sung mentions several times in his December 1955 speech the necessity for officials, party members and working people to know Korean history, the geography, culture and customs of Korea. Objectively and subjectively speaking, flunkeyism was endemic in the ranks of the International Communist Movement at that point in history; some party and state cadres suffered from this affliction. Recalling a visit to a Korean Peoples' Army Convalescence Home, Kim IL Sung saw that there was a painting of a Siberian landscape hanging up on the wall, instead of the scenes of the Korean Mountains such as Kumgang-san or Myohyang. Using this anecdote as an example of flunkeyism, Kim IL Sung exposes the ideological sycophancy and cultural nihilism of some officials.
Kim IL Sung explains in his speech that there is no conflict between establishing Juche and upholding the values of internationalism. The point is made clear of the connection of socialist patriotism with proletarian internationalism, with the expression that one can love Korea while loving the USSR and the Peoples Republic of China. There is no false dichotomy in the need to strengthen socialism in the DPRK and to fight for the victory of the World Revolution. Socialism in Peoples Korea has always maintained its unique character, while at the same time the DPRK has performed great feats of internationalism in such countries as Vietnam, Egypt, Syria, Zimbabwe, Cuba, and most recently in Russia. The DPRK has assisted various Anti-imperialist Governments, and Movements throughout the Global South. Another form of the DPRK's internationalism is to support the worldwide movement to study the Juche Idea.
Kim IL Sung makes the point very strongly in his speech that the party should never be divorced from the people. That the key to success in the revolution and construction is the winning over of the working people to Communist ideology and their active participation in the building of socialism. A party that fails to win over the masses is doomed to failure. The lessons of "On Eliminating Dogmatism & Formalism, Establishing Juche in Ideological Work" hold universal significance for the socialist and progressive movements; however, applying the concept mechanically would contradict the essence of Juche. In Western Countries, the Progressive Forces are divided and out of touch with the popular masses. On the one hand, we have dysfunctional mass "Left Social-Democratic" parties with a large petty-bourgeois base, and obsessed with "Identity Politics" and on the other "Marxist-Leninist" sects who dogmatically stick to past formulations, have no connection with the rank & file of the working class, both these positions have been a recipe for disaster for the advancement of socialist politics in the last 50 years or so. A Juche-oriented approach offering a creative strategy on how build a mass movement to defeat imperialism in its heartlands and bring about socialism would be an immense way forward.
The work became a historic document, which made it possible to overcome flunkeyism and dogmatism, and bring about an epoch-making change in the ideological activities of the Party and State of the DPRK. After the publication of the work, the struggle to establish Juche in the ideological work of the Workers' Party of Korea was intensified, and the principles of independence, self-sufficiency and self-reliance were applied in all aspects of the revolution and construction. With the Juche Idea at its core, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea advances as a beacon of socialism and anti-imperialism under the guidance of Kim Jong Un.
A presentation by Shaun Pickford (Secretary-General of the British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea) delivered on December 13th, 2025
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