"Mostly Propaganda in Nature:" Kim Il Sung, the Juche Ideology, and ...

"Mostly Propaganda in Nature:" Kim Il Sung, the Juche Ideology, and the Second Korean War
NKIDP Working Paper #3
to inflict, for sacrifice they felt bound to demand." 162 Recent materials from the Communist-bloc
archives about the Second Korean War suggest that one might reasonably draw a similar
conclusion about Juche and its role in North Korea. Kim appears to have used it to justify his
demands for sacrifice, and to strengthen his dictatorship. And when his regime faced even small
hints of potential weakness, he created opportunities to demonstrate his devotion to its principles
of Korean strength, nationalism, and independence. Yet, unlike the Soviet leaders portrayed by
Kennan, Kim appears to have had, at least to some extent, a genuine commitment to these
principles as well. Regardless of whether one accepts the more manipulative view or the more
benign view of Juche, however, it appears from the newest communist bloc materials that this
ideology played an important role in policymaking in the Second Korean War, and perhaps in
DPRK foreign policy throughout the Cold War.
162 Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946. Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, Volume VI (1946), p. 700.
www.wilsoncenter.org/nkidp 48