MONOCULTURE | A Recent History

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was admitted into the Non-Aligned Movement as a fully-fledged member in 1976. In his book, Kim Il-Sung (1912-1994), the founder and first Supreme Leader of North Korea, reflects on the movement’s role in the light of the Juche ideology that focused onKorean nationalism. In his essay The Non-Aligned Movement is a mighty anti-imperialist revolutionary force of our times included in the book, Kim Il-Sung proclaims that “The non-aligned countries should secure the independent development of their peoples and remain loyal to the ideas of the Non-Aligned Movement by upholding Chajusong”.‘Chajusong’ is a central idea of Kim Il-Sung’s Juche ideology that is based on independence (particularly economic) and creativity, which is understood as a mental attitude of man required to transform nature and society in accordance to one’s will and wishes. This creativity, however, is not considered to be a feature people are born with, but something that should be fostered in man by the state. According to Kim Il-Sung, the non-aligned countries “should respect the Chajusong of other countries” and neither interfere in other’s internal affairs nor take issue with others on their matters.