Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=03/24/04

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=NORTH KOREA/JUCHE IDEOLOGY

NUMBER=5-55074

BYLINE=AMY BICKERS

DATELINE=TOKYO

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: North Korea is known around the world as one of the last surviving hard-line communist states. But for most North Koreans, it is juche - a philosophy of extreme self-reliance, not communism - that guides their lives and economic activity. V-O-A's Amy Bickers in Tokyo examines juche, which has evolved into an all-encompassing national ideology.

TEXT: In downtown Pyongyang, the capital of communist North Korea, a white granite obelisk towers above of the city. It is the Tower of the Juche Idea, which honors North Korea's official political philosophy. It also pays homage to North Korea's first leader, Kim Il Sung, who died in 1994. He introduced juche as the guiding ideology in the 1950's and established it as a key component of North Korean life.

Ken Wells, a North Korea expert at Australia National University in Canberra, says the most frequent translation of juche, self-reliance, does not capture its all-encompassing importance in North Korea.

/// WELLS ACT ///

Juche means maintaining control not only over society but over nature, or, for example, the building of dams and of power plants. These are supposed to be things people are masters of and have control over so that people can be in charge of these elements and of how society develops and how they use national resources.

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While juche teaches that human beings are masters of all things and create their own destiny, in North Korea those beliefs are firmly coupled with the supreme authority of the country's leadership. People are taught that through total devotion to the government, they are following juche and keeping North Korea firmly on the path to self-sufficiency.

The philosophy also melds with traditional communism's ideal of a centrally planned economy with little privately held property and state-control of industry.

Mr. Wells explains that under the governments of Kim Il Sung and his son, Kim Jong Il, North Korea's people have been taught that juche amounts to safeguarding national sovereignty.

/// 2nd WELLS ACT ///

The idea was they would do so in terms of their own needs, abilities and technology and could do so without having to depend on other nations' resources. That is the essence of the theory. Along with it goes a lot of ideological rhetoric.

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North Korean students spend countless hours studying juche, which emerged after the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japanese domination at the end of the Second World War. Scholars say it was created in response to the deep shock and loss of honor that occurred during Japan's brutal colonization of Korea from 1910 to 1945.

Today, North Korean students learn that the main idea of juche is to elevate human beings as the central motivating power in the world, with the North Korean leadership the key driving force. North Korean teachers tell students that juche brings the political philosophies of Marxism and Leninism to a higher stage while transforming them into a uniquely Korean approach to life.

But to most of the outside world, North Korea's philosophy is at least partly to blame for the country's economic ruin. North Korea's people are hungry and impoverished because the government's centrally controlled economy fails to produce the goods they need and its trade with the outside world is very limited.

Since a famine in the mid-1990's, which is believed to have killed tens of thousands of people, Pyongyang has relied on China, South Korea and Western nations to feed its people.

It the past several years, Pyongyang has introduced measures to modernize its ramshackle economy. It now allows individuals to produce and sell some goods, and is setting up special zones to attract foreign manufacturers.

Despite its dependence on outside aid, Pyongyang has not abandoned juche, but has reinterpreted it to fit the times. For instance, North Korean officials say North Korea can accept assistance as long as the nation remains what they call "the master of its own destiny."

Pyongyang is trying to generate international support and interest in juche by sponsoring study and discussion groups around the world.

Pro-Pyongyang residents of Japan have formed the International Institute of the Juche Idea. The group publishes materials on juche and maintains a Web site in four languages. It sells books and organizes meetings and lectures around the world. Many of those who attend are interested in political philosophies such as communism.

Kristian Carter is a member of a small juche study group in England who has visited North Korea several times. He says that there are similar organizations in more than 150 countries.

/// CARTER ACT ///

We try to make juche available and study it and try to bring it into European and British situations and circumstances. We believe it is not just limited to Korea. It is an ideology and system that can be implemented in many countries around the world.

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Mr. Carter says interest in juche is growing in England, Japan and parts of Africa. He believes it could help strengthen national economies by encouraging people to unite behind a common purpose, even though it appears to have left North Korea deeply dependent on other nations' handouts. (SIGNED)

NEB/HK/AB/JO/KPD