The Ideology and Politics of North Korea, the DPRK

The U.S. and Western media has purposefully and deliberately portrayed the DPRK, or North Korea, as a tyrannical and oppressive state dictated by an irrational man of questionable sanity. However, like most propaganda pieces spewed through the bourgeois media, closer examination and analysis is the only way to sort through the lies and mistruths in order to ascertain any semblance of the truth. The objective of this essay is to provide an alternative description of the overall political atmosphere of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and its leading party. Though this only touches on some of the important issues, I highly recommend researching more on your own regarding this complex and fascinating country, its ideals, its politics, its society, and culture.

The political atmosphere of the DPRK is centralized around the ideas of Juche thought. Originally, the Workers Party of Korea was aligned with orthodox Marxist-Leninist thought. However, as they began to apply Marxism-Leninism in their country, the material conditions presented the necessity for the advancement of a new, specifically Korean revolution in the ideological principles guiding both the Party itself and society. Hence, in the 1970's, President Kim Il Sung and the Workers Party of Korea developed the Juche idea. Essentially, Juche transcends traditional Marxism-Leninism and can best be viewed as representing a new stage in the development of socialism particular to the conditions of Korea and its people.

The principle idea behind Juche is the inseparable relationship each and every individual shares with his nation and fellow comrades, including the leadership of the Party. This relationship extends beyond traditional physical relations into an almost spiritual connection between man, woman, child and his natural tendency of productive labor for the good of the collective. As this was applied in the DPRK, it also meant preserving and controlling the revolutionary state and society from the threat of external imperialist powers. Hence, a strong national army dedicated to the security of the state and the nation as an organic entity was an absolute necessity.

The role of the state, in the ideological sense, is the engineer of socialism and society. Guided by the principles of Juche as executed by the Party; the state's purpose is to oversee the transformation of society along the socialist model as it applies to the conditions in Korea. Ultimately, this involves the elimination of class-exploiters and the unification of the Korean nation as a whole through the process of extension of the Juche idea into South Korea. The end goal rests as the achievement of 'total socialism' for the Korean people as a whole, where all elements of society are working in cooperation for the goals of the whole collective.

The principle organization methodology for the Party and state is along the ideals of Democratic Centralism. This demonstrates the Marxist-Leninist origins of the Juche idea that have maintained as an effective model for organization, both within the party and throughout the state. This model holds the principles of democracy in that issues are discussed and elected on a basis where all interests are allowed to put forth their voices on a number of issues. However, it's also centralized so as to make sure that initiatives from the top down are followed through with. The masses accept the responsibility for the power organs of the society, and the power organs in turn function in a hierarchy according to the most basic element of the democratic centralized model. This allows for the masses an elementary level of democratic participation while avoiding the potential threats of a more decentralized model of government.

The idea of the state and party incorporates the masses and leadership as one into the role of "owning" the revolutionary ideals of the Korean people and Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The revolutionary spirit and ideals of the state are what makes the DPRK's present situation all the more unique. The DPRK faces insurmountable threats from the imperialist world and thus is placed in a defensive position for the safety and security of the revolutionary tasks and accomplishments it has amassed in its history. As this develops into further international antagonism, and the Western imperialists continue their attempts at dividing the Korean people and destroying the Juche idea, the DPRK and its leadership will continue to defend its national interests on behalf of its people and the move towards achieving total socialism for the Korean people.