Juche
Juche (Korean: 주체사상, romanized: juchesasang) is the group of ideas developed by North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung. Juche means self-reliance. According to its supporters, the idea was developed from Marxism and Leninism. In many cases, it is noticeably different from both. At its base, the idea states that the interests of the people and their nation are more important than those of Leninism or Marxism. A strong leader is required to undertake the necessary reforms. The nation of (North) Korea is special, and should be the focus of interest. Every nation needs to drive forward its own revolution. Three things are necessary for this:
- Political independence
- Economic self-reliances
- Military independence
It is the role of the state to make sure these three things are there. According to this idea, man himself is responsible for designing what the world should look like. The welfare of many people (which form the nation) is more important than the fate of the individual.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Juche_Tower_torch.jpg/220px-Juche_Tower_torch.jpg)
Juche also says that intellectuals are important.
Certain people have described these ideas as a philosophy, others see it as a religion.