• International E-seminar in Celebration of the 80th Birth Anniversary of General Kim Jong Il

WHEN introducing the topic of the life of General Secretary Kim Jong Il, the association and understanding of the Juche ideology for all Korea is bound to the General Secretary’s identity. The major works and establishment of the Juche Korea occurred within the General Secretary’s lifetime and it could be noted with the employment of media, film and international engagement, did the General Secretary make the establishment of a Juche-Korea a lifelong aim.

Following the General Secretary’s assumption to the Secretariat during the 6th Congress in October 1980, the General Secretary personally led the transition of the direction and aim of the Korean nation by stressing the importance of the concept of Juche over all other forms of philosophical doctrine.

This was seen as a marked occasion since the devastating famine and the collapse of the Soviet Union, in the decade succeeding the event, would force the Korean nation to exhibit modes of self-reliance and determination which would naturally test even the grandest of nations. With this transition in mind, the spirit and policy exhibited in Korea could therefore be said as a hardening of the individual and national responsibility towards Korea, even before the Arduous March had commenced.

A truly notable case is the lack of disaster which an observer would note when examining the Korean State during the 1980s and also the virtual impossibility of the dissolution of Soviet States within 10 years of the 6th Congress.

The notable importance of the Juche idea is also intrinsically linked to the effort towards the reunification of the Korean peninsula. With a shift away from the reliance of foreign powers, Korea looked instead to itself and it decided to cater to its own needs. This move to a more non-aligned standpoint, allowed the nation to determine more of its own future without the requirements of foreign approval.

Even so, Korea was determined to go along its own path even in the face of heightened American presence to its south. The Juche idea would have to be met in order to guarantee its independence in the face of Western expansion and Eastern pressures.

In order to spread the ideas and tenets of the Juche philosophy, the General Secretary aided and oversaw various film projects which highlighted and displayed the various interpersonal relationships which conflict with non-Juche ideals.

Many of the films share a moment of reflection when the protagonist reaffirms the principles of selflessness and the requirement for communal fraternity. Not only were the films engaging in themselves, but the portrayal of existentialism combats the notions of personal material aspirations that run in conflict with the society at large, at least from the individual engagement therein.

The importance of film and cinema were seen by the General Secretary to constitute an important device in both the national and international spread and promulgation of the Juche ideology.

General Secretary Kim Jong Il's revolutionary life can be described as the great annal of Juche promulgation and this noble cause of Kim Jong Il is faithfully carried on by His Excellency Kim Jong Un. It was during the General Secretary’s tenure in which the idea of Juche was familiarised amongst the Korean people and also under this tenure, that the country had to combat terrible troubles which made Juche a firm philosophy which became visibly and passionately exhibited by all Koreans.