Abstract
A s TE REALITY of polycentrism replaces the myth of the monolithic Communist world, the diverse policy orientations of the Communist nations take on added significance. North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, has slowly emerged in recent years as one of the more industrialized nations of the Socialist orbit. Backed by its steadily growing economic power, it has also begun assert an appreciable measure of autonomy in the arena of international Communist politics. What follows is an attempt trace the path that it has traveled in reaching its present status of relative independence. If there is a single Korean word which sums up North Korea's national preoccupation today, it is probably chuch'e-a word which has been variously translated as autonomy,' independence,2 theme,3 and subjective entity.4 As far as can be determined, the word made its first appearance in a speech made by Premier Kim Il-song before a group of propaganda and agitation workers of the Korean Workers' Party (KWP) on December 28, I955.5 In the speech, Kim reminded his audience that the ideological work of the KWP must be geared the peculiar requirements of the Korean He declared that the study of the history of Russian Communism, the Chinese Revolution, and the general principles of Marxism-Leninism had but one purpose: to enable us more correctly execute our own revolution. Deploring the failure of the Korean Communists study Korean history and culture in any systematic way, Kim stated:
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