Juche

In 1992, Juche replaced Marxism-Leninism in the revised North Korean constitution as the official state ideology, this being a response to the Sino-Soviet split. Juche was originally defined as a creative application of Marxism-Leninism, but after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union (North Korea’s greatest economic benefactor), all reference to Marxism-Leninism was dropped in the revised 1998 constitution. The establishment of the Songun doctrine in the mid-1990s has formally designated the military, not the proletariat or working class, as the main revolutionary force in North Korea. All reference to communism had been dropped in the 2009 revised constitution.

According to Kim Jong-il's On the Juche Idea, the application of Juche in state policy entails the following:

1.The people must have independence (chajusong) in thought and politics, economic self-sufficiency, and self-reliance in defense.

2.Policy must reflect the will and aspirations of the masses and employ them fully in revolution and construction.

3.Methods of revolution and construction must be suitable to the situation of the country.

4.The most important work of revolution and construction is molding people ideologically as communists and mobilizing them to constructive action.