Chawi: Military Independence
The last area of independence is self-reliance
in defense, a characteristic fundamental in juche
philosophy to an independent sovereign state. The
North Korean attitude towards military
confrontation was summed up in this manner by
Kim Il Sung: “We do not want war, nor are we
afraid of it, nor do we beg peace from the
imperialists.”12 The decidedly belligerent policy
of countering any perceived “imperialist moves
of aggression and war” with violence was seen as
the best way to defend national independence and
to win the revolutionary cause.13 The
implementation of this self-reliant defense system
would involve the mobilization of the whole
country and the complete inculcation of ideology
in the armed forces. Those who were not directly
taking up arms were to contribute to the
construction and maintenance of the domestic
defense industry and remain ideologically
prepared, so that the home front would be united
in a sense of socio-political superiority.14
Although Kim Il Sung conceded that foreign
support played a secondary role in the holistic
war against foreign “imperialists” and
“aggressors,” he heavily emphasized that the
decisive factor would be the preparation of
internal domestic purposes.15 Thus he pledged the
government to prepare the Korean people and the
army thoroughly and ideologically to cope with
war and to make full material preparations to
defend the country by relying on an independent
national economy.16
Origins of the Juche Philosophy
There are three major schools of thought
regarding the origins of the juche ideology. The
first of these is the instrumental perspective,
which emphasizes domestic and international
relations factors. The second perspective focuses
on the influence of traditional Korean politics.
The last viewpoint considers juche to be original
political thought stemming directly from the life
experiences of Kim Il Sung.
Instrumental Perspective
The instrumentalist viewpoint focuses on
both domestic and foreign political factors as the
root of the juche ideology. Some scholars believe