On Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism

Introduction:

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), or as most people know it, North Korea, is a country that comes up in the media all over the world very frequently. However, much of what is reported is inaccurate or entirely false and therefore the DPRK’s political and ideological foundations are oftentimes misunderstood. This work will explain what the DPRK’s ideological standpoints are and how the ideology of the DPRK developed over time. This will be done through quoting the Great Leaders, Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, as well as the respected Supreme Leader Comrade Kim Jong Un. Other DPRK publications might also be quoted at times.

Many capitalist sympathizers might know that the DPRK’s beliefs are socialist and communist in nature, but not much beyond that. They often describe the DPRK as the “last Stalinist dictatorship”, or something along those lines. Some might know or at least have heard about the Juche idea, but not what it entails.

Most socialists and communists have a better idea of what Juche is and might equate it to self-reliance yet fail to see the full picture and don’t fully understand the Juche idea’s relation to Marxism-Leninism. They have also oftentimes heard of Songun, but just equate that to the military-first principle. If you mention the term Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism, then many communists unfortunately don’t even know about it or just use it as a synonym for the Juche idea.

There are quite a lot of Marxist-Leninists, as well as Dengists, who still hold the belief that the Juche idea is a mere application of Marxism-Leninism to Korean material conditions and disregard the Juche idea’s originality.

Then there are Maoists, as well as a fraction of Marxist-Leninists, that believe that the DPRK went on a capitalist road and that the Juche idea parted with socialism and communism.

Therefore, I see it as essential to explain the basis of the DPRK’s ideology and how it compares to and differs from other communist ideologies. We will look at KimilsungismKimjongilism, the Juche idea, the Songun idea, as well as other aspects of the ideology of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK). These topics will include the DPRK’s views on the matter of nationalism and internationalism, as well as how the WPK has combatted revisionism to this day. Another common misconception I want to disprove is that Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism isn’t universally applicable.

This work will be mainly directed at scientific socialists and because of this it will presume the reader to have a basic understanding of Marxism-Leninism, but of course you’re welcome to read this even if this does not apply to you.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who’s taking the time to read this small summary of the DPRK’s political philosophy and extend revolutionary greetings to you.

Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism:

The DPRK is a Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist state, that is undergoing socialist construction in order to ultimately achieve communism. Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism is a relatively new term in DPRK politics. It was synthesized by Comrade Kim Jong Un and consists of the Juche idea and the Songun idea and as the name suggests, combines the ideas of Comrade Kim Il Sung and Comrade Kim Jong Il.

“The guiding ideology of the WPK is the great Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism. It is a glorious Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist party whose guiding ideology is Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism and which struggles for its realization.”¹

And;

“We must hold aloft modelling the whole society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism as the ultimate programme of the party and accomplish the Korean revolution without fail on the strength of ideology, on the strength of single-hearted unity.”²

Further;

“The objective of the revolutionary ideological offensive for establishing the party’s monolithic leadership system is to make the great Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism and its embodiment, the party’s lines and policies, an unshakeable conviction among the masses of the people.”²

It’s worth noting that Comrade Kim Jong Un sees Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism as the next stage and development of Kimilsungism, which was already applied under Comrade Kim Jong Il’s rule.

“Just as we set imbuing the whole society with Kimilsungism as the highest programme for the party and made strenuous efforts to realize it under the wise guidance of the General, we should, in the future, make more strenuous efforts to imbue the whole society with Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism.”²

The central aspect of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism is also the core of the Juche idea, the man centred world outlook and the people-first principle in socialist construction. This is in full accordance with Comrade Kim Il Sung’s lifetime motto: “The people are god.”

“The great Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism is, in essence, the people-first principle, and the mode of existence of our party is serving the people.”³

Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism is a revolutionary theory, that is socialist and communist in nature. Despite the common misconception, that the DPRK has abandoned communism, Comrade Kim Jong Un has reaffirmed on multiple occasions, that they still believe in that end goal.

“When the hundreds of thousands of cell secretaries and officials across the party unite its members firmly under the leadership of the Party Central Committee and give full play to their loyalty, patriotism and creative wisdom, our revolution will always emerge victorious in high spirits and the ideal of communism will surely come true.”⁴

It is true that the DPRK abandoned Marxism-Leninism in favour of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism, but that doesn’t mean that they have given up on socialism and communism.

The Juche Idea:

The Juche Idea is still the main philosophy within the Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist ideology of the DPRK. The Juche idea was synthesized by Comrade Kim Il Sung and initially started out as a creative application of Marxism-Leninism to Korean material conditions. However, it became an ideology of its own over time.

Comrade Kim Il Sung always laid a special emphasis on avoiding dogmatism and therefore denounced anyone who tried to implement Marxism-Leninism mechanically, instead of going with a more creative application of it.

“Since our aim is to carry through none other than the Korean revolution, we should solve all problems arising in the course of that revolution by our own efforts, proceeding from the specific conditions in our country. But the factionalists who have infiltrated the ranks of the communist movement are so imbued with worship of great powers that they have solved none of the problems facing our revolution; rather, they have put obstacles in its way.”⁵

He became more vocal about the Juche idea in the 1950s, when he said that in order to combat the dogmatism and formalism that were present in the party at the time.

“What is Juche in our party’s ideological work? What are we doing? We are not engaged in any other country’s revolution, but precisely in the Korean revolution. This, the Korean revolution, constitutes Juche in the ideological work of our party. Therefore, all ideological work must be subordinated to the interests of the Korean revolution. When we study the history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the history of the Chinese revolution, or the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism, it is all for the purpose of correctly carrying out our own revolution.”⁶

And;

“To make revolution in Korea we must know Korean history and geography and know the customs of the Korean people. Only then is it possible to educate our people in a way that suits them and to inspire in them an ardent love for their native place and their motherland.”⁶

It is precisely because of the rejection of worshipping a great power and because of avoiding dogmatism, that the Juche idea has independence of man as one of its core aspects and this also plays into the people-oriented stance of the Juche idea.

“Establishing the Juche orientation means that the people approach the revolution and construction in their own country as masters. In other words, it means the embodiment of independence and creativity; the people must adopt an independent and creative stand in order to solve all the problems arising from the revolution and construction mainly by themselves in the context of their own country’s own actual conditions.”⁷

As you can see, the core of the Juche idea isn’t just self-reliance, as is often claimed, but rather the people-centred world outlook, that makes it unique. The Juche idea had become a unique ideology over time and by the 1970s it had already overtaken Marxism-Leninism as the most important guiding ideology of the DPRK and the party as well as socialist construction had adopted a Juche-oriented stance and defeated dogmatism and flunkeyism.

This is the reason the DPRK upheld and followed both Marxism-Leninism and the Juche idea simultaneously until somewhere in the 1990s. This can also be seen from the writings of the Great Leaders, as I will demonstrate here.

“Marxism-Leninism which clarified the working class’s theory, strategy and tactics of revolutionary struggle is not a dogma but a guide to action. To adhere to the Juche standpoint in the revolution and construction conforms with the essential of MarxismLeninism as a creative doctrine. Only through a correct application of Marxism-Leninism from the standpoint of Juche, can the communists display its might to the full and further enrich its treasure house by creating revolutionary theories.”¹⁹

Even here we can detect Comrade Kim Jong Il’s emphasis on analysing Marxism-Leninism from a Juche-oriented standpoint and seeing it as an original idea, instead of trying to explain the Juche idea within the framework of Marxism-Leninism. Throughout the 1980s and the 1990s Comrade Kim Jong Il spent a lot of time on trying to make the distinction clear to party officials who still misunderstood the originality of the Juche idea.

“The Juche idea inherits the revolutionary stance of the working class, materialistic and dialectical principles and scientific theories which run through Marxism-Leninism. But today, in comparison to the period when the founders of Marxism-Leninism were active, the independence, creativity and consciousness of the masses who undertake the revolution have increased greatly, and their position and role in social development have also developed greatly. So there is a need to develop the theory and methods of revolution creatively to meet the needs of the new historical situation. This is an important matter.”²⁰

As you can see, the Juche idea doesn’t completely depart from Marxism-Leninism and inherits many of its principles. However, it doesn’t consider itself a new development of Marxism-Leninism, but rather a new development in communist revolutionary theory, in scientific socialism.

“In order to prove the justice and superiority of the Juche philosophy, we must clearly understand the limitations of the preceding philosophy and consider this philosophy and consider this philosophy in its correlation with the latter. Only when the Juche philosophy is studied in comparison with Marxist philosophy the limitations of which lie in the fact that it regards the developments of all things as a process of the history of nature, can its superiority be clearly elucidated. Some people attempt to explain the fundamental principles of the Juche philosophy, including the essential characteristics of man, from the view of the general law of the development of the material world, instead of explaining them by clarifying the law of social movement. In the final analysis, this can be construed as being tantamount to trying to explain the Juche philosophy from the viewpoint of Marxist dialectical materialism, not as a completely original political philosophy. This makes it impossible to clarify the originality of the Juche philosophy correctly.”²¹

Now, we will look at the essence of the Juche idea, at the point when it had been fully formalized, which was completed by Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Defining an idea is of course worthless, if you don’t fully understand the core and the main issue the idea tries to solve. While Marxism-Leninism focused on the relationship between material and consciousness, the Juche idea focuses on the relationship between the world and man.

“The Marxist philosophy raised the relationship between material and consciousness, between being and thinking, as the fundamental question of philosophy and proved the primacy of being and, on this basis, elucidated that the world is made of material and changed and developed by the motion of material. The Juche philosophy raised the relationship between the world and man, and man’s position and role in the world, as the fundamental question of philosophy, clarified the philosophical principle that man is the master of everything and that he decides everything and, on this basis, illuminated the absolutely correct way of shaping man’s destiny.”⁸

As you can see, the Juche idea is not an idea which directly contrasts Marxism-Leninism and it is still based on Marxist-Leninist truths like dialectical materialism. However, it is wrong to consider the Juche idea a development of Marxism-Leninism or an advancement of dialectical materialism. This is also the reason the DPRK was able to follow both the Juche idea, as well as Marxism-Leninism simultaneously up until the 1990s. Only then did they discuss the superiority of the Juche idea and the limitations of Marxism-Leninism more thoroughly.

“The Juche idea must not be viewed as a simple inheritance and development of MarxismLeninism; it must be viewed as a new and original idea. That we should see originality in context with derivations in understanding means that the Juche idea is not an ideology, which contrasts with Marxism-Leninism and that the historical achievements of MarxismLeninism must be acknowledged. We acknowledge the historical achievements of the dialectical materialism of Marxism, as it smashed the reactionary idealistic and metaphysical outlook on the world, but do not view it as the perfect philosophy of the working class. We appraise the historical achievements of Marxism-Leninism as it proved the inevitability of the fall of capitalism and the triumph of socialism and clarified the and theory on building a classless ideal society free of exploitation and oppression, but we do not see it as a perfect communist revolutionary theory. As a matter of course we have so far not spoken much about the limitations of Marxism-Leninism. But today when its limitations are more and more evident, it is necessary to bring them home to our officials. Only then can they fully understand the originality and superiority of the Juche idea, the revolutionary idea of the leader, and make firmer their conviction of our style socialism based on the Juche idea.”⁹

As we can see, the Juche idea is an original political philosophy that recognizes and presupposes the questions Marxism-Leninism answered and appreciates the additions it made to scientific socialism and communist revolutionary theory, but also sees its limitations and tries to further expand scientific socialism, even if it abandoned MarxismLeninism. Comrade Kim Jong Il laid a special emphasis on the originality of the Juche idea and it is key in understanding the relationship between Marxism-Leninism and Juche.

Now that we have understood how the Juche idea is different from Marxism-Leninism, we can look at what the Juche idea consists of. I already stated that the core of the Juche idea is the man-centred world outlook, but I’ll expand on it a bit.

“As the leader said, the Juche idea is based on the philosophical principle that man is the master of everything and decides everything. The Juche idea raised the fundamental question of philosophy by regarding man as the main factor, and elucidated the philosophical principle that man is the master of everything and decides everything. That man is the master of everything means that he is the master of the world and of his own destiny; that man decides everything means that he plays the decisive role in transforming the world and in shaping his destiny. The philosophical principle of the Juche idea is the principle of man-centred philosophy which explains man’s position and role in the world. The leader made it clear that man is a social being with independence, creativity and consciousness. Man, though material existence, is not a simple material being. He is the most developed material being, a special product of the evolution of the material world. Man was already outstanding as he emerged from the world of nature. He exists and develops by cognizing and changing the world to make it serve him, whereas all other material lives maintain their existence through their subordination and adaption to the objective world. Man holds a special position and plays a special role as master of the world because he is a social being with independence, creativity and consciousness.”¹⁰

Comrade Kim Jong Il explained the man-centred aspect of the Juche idea well, but he was carrying forward what was already put forward as an idea by Comrade Kim Il Sung. Comrade Kim Jong Il helped Comrade Kim Il Sung synthesize the Juche idea to make it a perfect communist revolutionary theory of the working class.

“The basis of the Juche idea is that man is the master of everything and decides everything. Remaking nature and society is also for the benefit of people and it is work done by them. Man is the most precious treasure in the world and he is also the most powerful. All our work is for the people and its success depends on the way we work with them. Education is an important aspect of this work.”¹¹

As you can see, Comrade Kim Il Sung already came up with this principle, so it wasn’t Comrade Kim Jong Il revising the Juche idea as I’ve heard some Marxists claim, but he carried forward the revolutionary beliefs of Comrade Kim Il Sung forward perfectly. Here’s the most concrete definition the great leaders gave on the Juche idea.

“The Juche idea views and approaches the world by centring on man. It provides a correct answer to the question of man’s destiny. The Juche idea requires that the masses should have the attitude of masters towards the revolution and construction and realize Juche in ideology, independence in politics, self-support in the economy and self-reliance in national defence.”¹²

Self-reliance is an aspect of the Juche idea that shouldn’t be disregarded, but equating the Juche idea to self-reliance is incorrect and doesn’t fully explain the essence of the Juche idea.

Having looked at how the Juche idea was created, explained how the Juche idea is a unique idea that differs from Marxism-Leninism, and described the ideological foundation of the Juche idea, we will now look at another important aspect of the Juche idea, the three revolutions. Some people might have heard the DPRK talk about a cultural revolution, but is it a central aspect of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism and the Juche idea?

The three revolutions are seen as a central aspect of the Juche idea and specifically in the phase of socialist construction. While Marxism-Leninism already laid out the foundations of the democratic and socialist revolution, the DPRK expands on that by explaining the revolutions necessary in socialist construction.

“After the democratic and socialist revolutions emerge victorious and the socialist system is established, the ideological, technical and cultural revolutions pose themselves as the fundamental revolutionary task facing the working-class state.”¹⁷

But what do these three revolutions entail?

“Of the three revolutions, the ideological revolution is the most important. The ideological revolution is the work of remoulding human beings to form communist revolutionaries of the working people through making them revolutionary and working-class and is political work to enhance their revolutionary enthusiasm and creative initiative.”¹⁷

And;

“The technical revolution is an important component of the three revolutions. The technical revolution is a solemn revolutionary task to promote the people’s material well-being steadily and to free the working people from arduous labour through developing the productive forces. It is only by conducting the technical revolution that it is possible to build an independent socialist national economy, free the working people from hard labour and provide them with an independent and creative working life.”¹⁷

And further;

“The cultural revolution is one of the three revolutionary tasks devolving on the workingclass state. The cultural revolution is the only way to eliminate the cultural backwardness that remains from the old society, to create a socialist and communist culture and to turn all the members of society into comprehensively-developed communists.”¹⁷

These three revolutions need to be carried out throughout the period of socialist construction up until the goal of communism has been reached. These revolutions are still carried out in the DPRK currently.

“Only by waging the ideological, technological and cultural revolutions dynamically can we consolidate to the full the strength of the country as a politico-ideological, military and youth power and reach the objective of achieving the status of an economic and civilized power at the highest speed. The line of the three revolutions as defined by the Great Leaders in an original way and applied by them is an ever-victorious banner with eternal viability and the general line to which our party must hold fast in building socialism.”¹⁸

As we have looked at what the Juche idea consists of, we must look at the reason the Juche idea isn’t more widely accepted. A lot of people are confused with the Juche idea’s nationalist tendencies and believe it to be uniquely Korean. Therefore, I will show you the Juche idea’s stance on internationalism, nationalism, ethnonationalism and patriotism. We will also look at the question whether the Juche idea is a universal idea.

“The Juche idea is based on Marx’s principle “Workers of all countries, unite!” and is in full accord with proletarian internationalism.”⁷

And;

“In connection with the problem of establishing Juche I think it necessary to touch on internationalism and patriotism. Internationalism and patriotism are inseparably linked with each other. You must know that the love of Korean communists for their country does not go against the internationalism of the working class but conforms fully with it. To love Korea is just as good as to love the Soviet Union and the socialist camp and, likewise, to love the Soviet Union and the whole socialist camp means precisely loving Korea. They constitute a complete whole. For the great cause of the working class has no frontiers and our revolutionary cause is part of the international revolutionary cause of the working class throughout the world. The one supreme goal of the working class of all countries is to build a communist society. The difference, if any, lies only in the fact that certain countries do this earlier and others later.”⁶

Further;

“It is wrong to view communism as incompatible with nationalism. Communism does not advocate only the interests of the working class; it also advocates the interests of the nation; hence it is an ideology of loving the country and the people. Nationalism is also an ideology of loving the country and the people, as it defends the interests of the country and the nation. Love of the country and the people is an ideological emotion common to communism and nationalism; herein lies the ideological basis on which they can ally with one another. Therefore, there is no reason or ground to pit one against the other, and reject nationalism. Nationalism does not conflict internationalism. Mutual help, support and alliance between countries and nations; this is internationalism. Every country has its borders, and every nation has its identity, and revolution and construction are carried on with the country and nation as a unit. For this reason, internationalism finds its expressions in the relationships between countries and between nations, a perquisite for which is nationalism. Internationalism divorced from the concepts of nation and nationalism is merely an empty shell. A man who is unconcerned about the destiny of his country and nation cannot be faithful to internationalism. Revolutionaries of each country should be faithful to internationalism by struggling, first of all, for the prosperity of their own country and nation.”¹³

The DPRK advocates for nationalism along the lines of patriotism and considers it inseparable from internationalism. However, they reject any kind of ethnonationalism and do not consider the Korean race to be ethnically or biologically superior in any way. They classify the type of national chauvinism that is equated to nationalism by many theorists, as bourgeois nationalism, while the type of nationalism they believe in is often equated to patriotism.

“We do not assert that the Koreans’ biological constitution is more developed than those of other races. Defining the superiority of a nation according to biological or ethnic characteristics is the practice of reactionary, bourgeois ethnology. Arguing that national characteristics are defined by racial characteristics, bourgeois ethnologists classify people according to skin colours, namely white people as a “higher race” and coloured people as a “lower race”. They say that only a “higher race” can create advanced civilization. The reactionary ethnological doctrine has been used by imperialists as an ideological instrument for their policy of racial discrimination and obliteration of nations.”¹⁴

And;

“Fundamentally speaking, there can be no “higher race” or “lower race”. All the races are endowed with creative intelligence and ability. The low level of civilization of nations under colonial subjugation in the past is not due to any inborn inability, but is the consequence of the imperialists’ predatory policy and their policy of keeping colonial people in ignorance.”¹⁴

Further;

“Reactionary racism and national chauvinism, which were used by imperialists as their ideological instrument for aggression and domination, have been categorically rejected by progressive humanity. The Japanese imperialists, who clamoured for the “mission” of “leadership” over other nations by claiming the “superiority” of the “Yamato race” and the German fascists, who attempted world domination by advertising the “superiority” of the “Aryan race”, received the judgement of history. In spite of this, the US and other imperialists are still using racism and national chauvinism in justifying their domination and plunder of other nations.”¹⁴

Now that we’ve seen that the Juche idea is certainly an internationalist ideology, we have to look at the question of whether it is universally applicable. Comrade Kim Il Sung was asked that question and he emphasized that one should apply Juche creatively, just as he had applied Marxism-Leninism creatively back in his day. Avoiding dogmatism was an important principle in the creation of the Juche idea and therefore we should not just copy the DPRK’s implementation of the Juche idea.

“You said that the Juche idea could be applied to Latin America too. I consider that the question of whether or not the Latin-American peoples apply the Juche idea to the revolution and construction in their own countries has to be decided entirely by the Latin-American peoples themselves. One thing I should like to emphasize here is that the Juche idea and the specific experience of the Korean revolution obtained in the course of its application cannot be made to fit all other continents and peoples. Conditions vary in different countries; so people should settle all problems to suit the specific conditions of their own country and the requirements of their own revolution. The Juche idea too, I believe, will display its superiority and vitality to the full only when the people of each country apply it creatively from an independent standpoint.”¹⁵

The DPRK became a bit more vocal about the necessity of the Juche idea later on.

“A socialist state can defend the country’s prestige and the people’s destiny, and build and perfect socialism as suited to its situation and by its own efforts, only by maintaining the principle of independence and a definite Juche-oriented stand in all its activities.”¹⁶

The Songun Idea:

The Songun idea is one of the two main components of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism, next to the Juche idea. The Songun philosophy was synthesized by Comrade Kim Jong Il, who based it on the ideological revolution and the remoulding of man, which already was an aspect of the Juche idea, but expanded upon that. Comrade Kim Jong Il noted that he saw it as essential to highlight the aspect of remoulding man, as the preceding communist theories had oftentimes neglected it. On the basis of seeing the necessity in the remoulding of man, he decided to build the army into an ideological force in socialist construction. So therefore, the Korean People’s Army (KPA) was not only a means to defend the country, but also represented the country, the party and the people. Secondly, Comrade Kim Jong Il emphasized self-reliance in military affairs, which had also been an aspect of the Juche idea. However, the Songun idea further elucidated that to protect socialism against imperialist aggression, a socialist country needs to be able to protect itself. To safeguard once independence it is essential for any socialist country to implement Songun politics, as well as the Songun-based leadership.

“Our party’s Songun-based revolutionary leadership, Songun-based politics, is a revolutionary mode of leadership and socialist mode of politics that gives top priority to military affairs, and defends the country, the revolution and socialism and dynamically pushes ahead with overall socialist construction by dint of the revolutionary mettle and combat capabilities of the people’s army.”²²

And;

“Songun was the General’s revolutionary idea, his practice in the revolution, his political ideal and his political mode. During the long period of more than half a century from the day when he started his leadership of the Songun revolution, the great General visited one KPA unit after another, strengthening the army into an invincible revolutionary army, and led the revolution and construction to victory by force of Songun. Regarding the strengthening of the KPA as the most important task in the Songun revolution, he raised the KPA as the buttress, the main force, of our revolution, and achieved the historic victory in the grim antiimperialist, anti-US showdown in defence of the country’s security and socialism by training the KPA into the army of the leader that is boundlessly faithful to the cause of the WPK, into an invincible revolutionary army. He defined the spirit of defending the leader to the death, the spirit of implementing his instructions whatever the cost and the heroic self-sacrificing spirit displayed by the service personnel as the revolutionary spirit symbolic and representative of the Songun era, as the revolutionary soldier spirit, and led all the service personnel and people to live and struggle in that spirit, thus ensuring that a great transformation was brought about in all sectors of the revolution and construction.”²³

Further;

“The basic idea of the Songun revoliution is to give importance and precedence to military affairs in implementing the masses’ cause of independence, the socialist cause, and pushing ahead with the overall revolution and construction with the revolutionary as the core force.”²³

The DPRK has been able to safeguard its independence, as well as push forward their nuclear programme, precisely because of Songun politics.

But it isn’t only the Juche idea that had detected some limitations within Marxism-Leninism, but the Songun idea explained the shortcomings of Marxism-Leninism in terms of who is the main force of the revolution. It explains that Marxism-Leninism neglected the importance of ideological consciousness and instead had a class reductionist view on the main force in the revolution and socialist construction. The Songun idea was the first communist revolutionary philosophy that challenged the view that the working class is the main force in the revolution and replaced it with the revolutionary army equipped with the Songun-based leadership.

“The preceding revolutionary theories of Marxism viewed the working class as the main force in the revolution. Having analysed the social and class relations in the Western capitalist countries in the mid-19th century, Marx identified the working class as the most advanced and revolutionary class entrusted with the mission of liquidating the domination of capital and all sorts of exploitation, and building socialism and communism, and defined it as the leading class and the main force of the revolution. This was the reflection of the reality of capitalist society in those times. Later, socialist revolutions emerged victorious in several countries of the world, and socialist construction got under way, with the working class as the main force. As a result, it had been recognized as an unbreakable revolutionary formula in carrying out the cause of socialism to conduct the revolutionary struggle and construction work with the working class as the core and the main force. However, Marx’s theories and formulas, which had been set forth one and a half centuries before, cannot accord with the present reality. The times have advanced further, witnessing a great change in social atmosphere, class relations and the status of the working class. With the development of capitalism, especially with the rapid development of science and technology and the arrival of the IT age, the living basis of the working class has been changed and work is being done on a more technological and intellectual basis. The ranks of the working class have been intellectualized and the working masses engaged in technical, intellectual and mental labour are quickly outnumbering manual workers.”²²

And;

“The limitations of Marxist revolutionary theories were also manifested in a socialist society where the working masses, including the working class, have become the masters of the state and society. The preceding theories based on the materialistic conception of history considered that the revolution is completed once the working class seizes power and establishes socialist relations of production. For this reason, they failed to make a correct clarification of the law-governed course of socialist construction subsequent to victory in revolution; in particular, they failed to raise the issue of remoulding man, the ideological revolution, in a socialist society. For the first time in history, President Kim Il Sung advanced the outstanding that the course of building socialism and communism is, in view of the class relations, the process of modelling the whole society on the working-class pattern and gave scientific explanations of the role of the working class, the development of class relations and the law governing the remoulding of man in a socialist society.”²²

Revisionism:

The Workers’ Party of Korea is one of the few communist parties in the world that didn’t succumb to revisionism or factionalism. But how did they manage that and were there famous revisionists in the party?

The most notable incident that occurred in DPRK was the factionalist clique inside the WPK led by Kim Tu Bong, which tried to gain power in the party and created disunity among party members. This led to the August Faction Incident in 1956. Both the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) as well as China tried to interfere in the matter and wanted to prevent Comrade Kim Il Sung from purging the factionalists, but eventually Comrade Kim Il Sung managed to do so and like that also became independent in politics, which was an important step in preventing revisionism. At that point revisionism had already taken hold of the USSR and many other socialist nations. However, because Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the USSR at the time, had lost political influence over the DPRK then, the relationship between the countries got complicated.

In the Sino-Soviet split China and Albania split away from the USSR-led socialist camp and denounced the USSR’s revisionism. The DPRK instead kept relations with the USSR going while denouncing the USSR within the party. The WPK did confront the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in meetings between party delegations but decided not to compromise relations. This was the correct move, as they were able to prevent revisionism from infiltrating their own country, but also didn’t isolate themselves from the global communist movement. They kept this policy and never worshipped a great power like the USSR or China and therefore continued developing their socialism. They had good relationships with the revisionist socialist states that were a part of the Warsaw Pact like the German Democratic Republic (GDR), but also with independent socialist states like Yugoslavia. When the end of the Cold War saw the collapse of socialism in most countries, the DPRK was one of the few countries that was able to stand on its own.

In the current period, which started after the collapse of the Cold War, the Khrushchevite revisionists have mostly disappeared. However, they were replaced with an even more reformist type of revisionists; Dengists which initiated market reforms to a scale that had never been seen before in a socialist country. China, as well as the other remaining socialist states, succumbed to revisionism and the DPRK is the last remaining non-revisionist socialist state nowadays. During the Arduous March, a small Dengist faction began to form in the WPK, however because of Comrade Kim Jong Il’s great leadership these never came to power. The revisionists were led by Jang Song Thaek and Comrade Kim Jong Un eventually managed to purge these revisionists from party and state a few years after taking office.

The motto “The people are god”, is upheld in the DPRK and the party and state officials should always regard themselves as the servants of the people. The WPK also struggles against revisionism, corruption and anti-socialist elements frequently in order to keep the party free from that influence.

Now I will show you a collection of quotes where the Great Leaders correctly analysed the situation in the USSR. They recognized that Khrushchev had destroyed Comrade Joseph Stalin’s legacy and led the USSR on a revisionist path on which socialism couldn’t be defended and was destroyed by Mikhail Gorbachev eventually.

“In the mourning period our people have nurtured the conviction that Comrade Kim Il Sung is always with them. We must ensure that they hold him in high esteem forever and remain faithful to his will. If we undertake the work of holding him in high esteem for eternity, we can exert a significant influence on establishing a true communist moral outlook in the international communist movement. Communist morality is pure, noble and genuine. The core of communist morality is loyalty to the leader. In the past revisionists such as Khrushchev who appeared in the international communist movement, seriously undermined communist morality. Khrushchev, by slandering Stalin gave the negative impression to the world that communists were ignorant of their forerunners in the revolution and fought one another. Lenin, the founder of the first socialist state, is today slandered by renegade socialists, seventy years after his death. Similar phenomena have been witnessed in other parties in the international communist movement. As a result, the communists lost the people’s trust and support, and this ended with the collapse of socialism in several countries. By holding Comrade Kim Il Sung in high esteem forever, even more than we did in his lifetime, we should demonstrate to the world outlook on morality with which communists support their leaders. Thus we can actively contribute to safeguarding and adding glory to the noblest communist morality and to its worldwide rehabilitation, after it was marred by the revisionists and renegades of socialism.”²⁴

And;

“It was from the time of Khrushchev that the Soviet Union began tottering. When Stalin was alive, he led the party well. In his days, the struggle against cosmopolitism was also waged aggressively. Cosmopolitism is a theory of world society. At the time of Stalin the Soviet people were asked to present to the state what they had received as gifts from those in capitalist countries; even if it might be just a fountain pen. But for Stalin the Soviet Union would not have been able to defeat the German fascists. I still keep at home a copy of the Soviet fulm about the battle of Moscow, often watching it. Stalin held a parade in celebration of the victorious October Socialist Revolution in Moscow, with the enemy less than 40 km away. While evacuating the Politbureau members and other people to local areas, he remained in the Kremlin, commanding the battle continually. As he fought in such a brave manner, Stalin enjoyed respect from among his people. During the war, the soldiers of the Soviet Army fought under the slogan “For Stalin”, “For the party” and “For the motherland”, and won out in the war. Following Stalin’s demise, however, Khrushchev spoke ill of Stalin and denied his achievements, on the excuse of opposing a “personality cult”. Later, Gorbachev sold the Soviet Union to the imperialists. I entertain an idea that the former Soviet people will certainly restore their Soviet motherland.”²⁵

Comrade Kim Il Sung also explained how Khrushchev tried to undermine the sovereignty of the DPRK by pushing them to join the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), for which the USSR oftentimes excluded the DPRK from certain events as a form of revenge.

“We did not join the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance in the past, but have developed the independent national economy and unshakably maintained independence. Khrushchev once invited Korea to join CMEA, saying that all the other socialist countries had joined it. I said, “The economies in the European socialist countries are highly developed, but our economy is not. You can be likened to university students, whereas we are like kindergarten pupils. So how can we be a match for you in the CMEA? We will build socialism on our own outside the CMEA. Khrushchev also suggested that we should use electric power from a hydroelectric power station built near Lake Baikal. If we had accepted his offer, the Soviet people might have cut off the electric supply whenever they deemed it necessary. Then, we would have been made helpless. So I declined his offer, saying it was too far from our country.”²⁶

And;

“In the past, the Soviet Union used to put up the slogan “Long live the great socialist community” on May Day and the October Socialist Revolution Day. The socialist community referred to by the Soviet Union means the community of the socialist member states of the CMEA. So socialist countries such as ours which were not members of the CMEA were excluded from the right to give cheers.”²⁷

Comrade Kim Il Sung also explained how dangerous the worship of a great power is and gives it as an example of why the European socialist states collapsed.

“In the past these countries used to do everything the way the Soviet Union did; for example if the Soviet Union uttered “A”, they said “A”, and if the former pronounced “B”, they said “B”. The former German Democratic Republic worshipped the Soviet Union so much that her people were said to have remarked that when it was raining in Moscow the Berliners used to take an umbrella though it was not raining in their city, in criticism of the sycophantic attitude of their party leadership to great power. Because they followed everything the Soviet Union did, in worship of the latter, the East European socialist countries have ended up in ruin. Why should they also have to undertake “restructuring” blindly, just because the Soviet Union did it?”²⁷

However, the USSR wasn’t without fault in the situation that these socialist countries were so dependant on each other.

“The former Soviet Union would frown on other socialist countries when they did not sing in chorus with her and bring pressure to bear upon them of breaking away from socialist and internationalist principles.”²⁷

Thank you for reading, this article was written and provided to Songun Study Group by JereSuomi, and formatted by Valerie.

Sources:

1. Kim Jong Un (2012) “Let Us Brilliantly Accomplish The Revolutionary Cause Of Juche, Holding Comrade Kim Jong Il In High Esteem As The Eternal General Secretary Of Our Party”
2. Kim Jong Un (2014) “Let Us Hasten Final Victory Through A Revolutionary Ideological Offensive”
3. Kim Jong Un (2015) “Making Selfless, Devoted Efforts For The Good Of The People Is The Mode Of Existence And Source Of Invincible Might Of The Workers’ Party Of Korea”
4. Kim Jong Un (2021) “Closing Address At Sixth Conference Of Cell Secretaries Of The Workers’ Party Of Korea”
5. Kim Il Sung (1930) “The Path Of The Korean Revolution”
6. Kim Il Sung (1955) “On Eliminating Dogmatism And Formalism And Establishing Juche In Ideological Work”
7. Kim Il Sung (1972) “On The Present Political And Economic Policies Of The Democratic People’s Republic Of Korea And Some International Problems”
8. Kim Jong Il (1996) “The Juche Philosophy Is An Original Revolutionary Philosophy”
9. Kim Jong Il (1990) “On Some Problems Of The Ideological Foundation Of Socialism”
10. Kim Jong Il (1982) “On The Juche Idea”
11. Kim Il Sung (1972) “On Some Problems Of Our Party’s Juche Idea And The Government Of The Republic’s Internal And External Policies”
12. Kim Il Sung (1986) “Answers To Questions Raised By The Vice-Chairman Of The Indonesian Newspaper Merdeka”
13. Kim Jong Il (2002) “On Having A Correct Understanding Of Nationalism”
14. Kim Jong Il (1989) “Let Us Highly Display The Korean-Nation-First Spirit”
15. Kim Il Sung (1974) “Answers To Questions Put By A Delegation Of Argentinian Journalists”
16. Kim Jong Un (2019) “On Socialist Construction And The Internal And External Policies Of The Government Of The Republic At The Present Stage”
17. Kim Il Sung (1978) “Let Us Step Up Socialist Construction Under The Banner Of The Juche Idea”
18. Kim Jong Un (2015) “Let Us Bring About A Fundamental Turn In The ThreeRevolution Red Flag Movement In Line With The Demands Of The Developing Revolution”
19. Kim Jong Il (1983) “Let Us Advance Under The Banner Of Marxism-Leninism And The Juche Idea”
20. Kim Jong Il (1986) “On Some Problems Of Education In The Juche Idea”
21. Kim Jong Il (1990) “On Having A Correct Viewpoint And Understanding Of The Juche Philosophy”
22. Kim Jong Il (2003) “The Songun-Based Revolutionary Line Is A Great Revolutionary Line Of Our Era And An Ever-Victorious Banner Of Our Revolution”
23. Kim Jong Un (2013) “Let Us Add Eternal Brilliance To Comrade Kim Jong Il’s Great Idea Of And Achievements In The Songun Revolution”
24. Kim Jong Il (1994) “Let Us Hold The Great Leader In High Esteem Forever And Accomplish His Cause”
25. Kim Il Sung (1994) “Talk With The Chairman Of The Central Committee Of The Belgian Labour Party”
26. Kim Il Sung (1993) “On The Direction Of Socialist Economic Construction For The Immediate Period Ahead”
27. Kim Il Sung (1992) “Talk With The Chairman Of The Workers’ Communist Party Of Sweden”