The basic purpose of this study is to investigate the socio-cultural influence of 'Juche' thought on people of North Korea(NK). The early feature of 'Juche' thought was that people could voluntarily achieve socialist ideals. At the end of 1960's, however, this early idea was transformed. This aspect was closely related with Kim Il-Sung's despotic rule. The dictatorship of Kim Il-Sung has been succeeded to his son, Kim Jung-Il. In this process, it was the very 'Juche' thought that the establishment of personal dictatorship and its succession was based on. In this sense, 'Juche' thought as the only ideology in NK has widely and radically influenced on the consciousness of people, their methods and behaviors of lives and their sharing cultures. So it is necessary to investigate the socio-cultural function of 'Juche' thought in NK.
Considered in detail, also, this approach reminds us of the methodology of Louis Althusser. The key point in his study on ideology is that the reproduction of all social structures is dependent on various Ideological State Apparatuses(ISAs). Education, for example, plays a role in training people for the obedience to the major ideology, so the ideology can have an decisive effect on all aspects of social lives. The dominant ideology of a society, that is, continues to reproduce the dominant culture through a lot of ISAs.
Althusser's methodology can be applied for this study. We can say that 'Juche' thought as the single ideology in NK has reproducted the dominant socio-culture for sustaining the regime of NK. Here has been important roles of ISAs, especially, family, social group and education in NK. Thus, the structural methodology of Althusser seems to be very useful to this study on the ideological function of 'Juche' thought.
In NK, 'Juche' thought has been systematized since the end of 1960's, and subsequently became the contemporary foundation of Kim Jung Il's dictatorship. The chief reason why this development could be possible is that 'Juche' thought, as the case of Althusser, has continuously reproducted all socio-cultural fields of people in NK. We can see some examples in family, social group and education fields.
To begin with, considering the relation between the family and 'Juche' thought. Traditionally, the family structure of NK is under Confucianism like South Korea(SK). Related with 'Juche' thought, however, this has a very different meaning. Before the establishment of 'Juche' thought, the patriarchal oder and authority in the pure socialist family was the overthrow object for a socialist revolution. But, when 'Juche' thought began to exercise certain force, the order and authority was inherited as valuable tradition.
Here was an invisible attention in positive acceptance of confucian traditions. This was not to reestablish the conventional family structure of NK, but to unify the conception of the patriarchal order and authority into Surung(leader), Kim Il Sung and, from the beginning of 1980's, his son, Kim Jung Il. This attention has taken an important part in strengthening their dictatorship. Basically, the dictatorship has been based on 'Juche' thought.
In this sense, we can seemingly look traditional family cultures in NK, such as cases that many daughters-in-law live with their parents-in-law, that the conflicts between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law often happen, that in marriage parents' consent is important and that a lot of parents prefer a son to a daughter. These cultures are also general in SK.
These features, however, have an essential difference from traditional cultures. Because, according to 'Juche' thought, only Surung has patriarchal authority, parents-in-law are not respected but ignored and daughters-in-law have equal positions in family with their parents-in-law. In addition, the reason why parents prefer a son is that the notion of the power succession from Kim Il Sung to Kim Jung Il is the core element of 'Juche' thought.
It is, thus, said that the family culture of NK pretends to be traditional in appearance. The culture has been really destructed by 'Juche' thought. The typical instance is the supervisory institution in five families each other. Here is not any relation between parents and their children and between husbands and wives. All members of families have only to blame each other for whether someone have violated the teaching of 'Juche' thought or not.
This similar picture appears in various but collectivized fields of social life of people. Organized 'Juche' thought has invoked a widely watching and controling social network for people. The government of NK has examined the devotion of people to Kim's family and divided people by the submissive degree into three general classes: core class, unsettled class and hostile class. People in core class are the most obedient and can receive a lot of merit in social life, such as in getting jobs, married, higher positions and entering universities. In other word, people in NK have to live their life by their classes.
Another case of this network is labor mobilization for all people. The government has mobilized people under the name of the realization of the socialist revolution of NK. But it must be understood as the chief method of governing people. One of the major reasons is that people can not have any their own free time because of a lot of labor mobilization. That is, the government has tried to prevent people from doing any resistance. It means that human basic rights in NK depend on only Kim' family. So no trade union has struck in NK.
Resulted from the supervision network of NK, a lot of concentration camps for political offense has been built. Their character is beyond general prison. It is also connected with the process of the establishment of Kim's dictatorship. Above all, it is noteworthy that five of these camps have been constructed since Kim Jung Il began to have political power in the beginning of 1980's. In this sense, we can say that the ultimate purpose of building camps is to regulate people hostile to the political system of Kim's family.
Social aspects stated above have come from 'Juche' thought. Kim Il Sung and Kim Jung Il have utilized 'Juche' thought for consolidating their dictatorship. It is, therefore, said that 'Juche' thought as the only ideology in NK has reproducted the social culture for justifying the dictatorship of Kim's family.
Where 'Juche' thought' s function could be maximized, however, was the educational field of NK. The particular feature of education in NK is to have been compulsory education based on socialist education. But the educational theme of NK changed from teaching communism to indoctrinating people in Kim's dictatorship with the establishment of 'Juche' thought in the end of 1960' s. So all children of NK have been obliged to learn the instruction of Kim's family. This is equally applied to all students in schools, even in universities. We can see this in contents of all contexts. Shortly speaking, this education pays attention to idolize Kim's family.
The idolization education of NK has also forced all students to do compulsory labor. The labor continues to be done for the period of vacation. The object of compulsory labor is, such as the way of social regulation, only to control students. It is, therefore, natural that all students do not have any free time. In other word, the cramming method of idolization is the core function of 'Juche' thought.
As mentioned above, we have investigated the socio-cultural function of 'Juche' thought focusing on family culture, group culture and educational culture. Here we need to ask an important and radical question: has 'Juche' thought been functioning rightly in NK? The answer seems to be very negative.
The decisive case in which the answer becomes negative is the increase of people who have escaped from NK. The ultimate reason why they have tried to escape is not an economical condition, but 'Juche' thought. If the economical condition of NK were worse and worse, but the function of 'Juche' thought were right, they would never abandon their own country. Because of 'Juche' thought, in other word, people of NK can never dream such pictures as the notion of individual, human basic rights and their own future.
In conclusion, 'Juche' thought does not have any universal value for human beings. The thought is the simple outcome of idolization for Kim's family and has widely and determinately influenced on the socio-cultural life of people. It is, therefore, a necessary result that all aspects of people's lives are under watch and regulation from even childhood, so a lot of people are giving up their own country.
카카오톡
페이스북
블로그