The Formation of the Leading Role of Communist Ideology in the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea

Abstract

The formation of the ideology and leadership role of the Korean Communist Party took place in the conditions of overcoming the negative influence of the Yoshida doctrine. Korean communists attributed the failure of both the Korean national liberation movement and the early communist movement to the influence of the Yoshida Doctrine. Bourgeois nationalists concentrated their efforts on searching for a “powerful power” that they could rely on in the struggle for independence. However, they did not consider the Korean people as a subject in this struggle. This fact determined the defeat of the bourgeois nationalist movement and contributed to the preservation of foreign domination. Korean communists waged an ideological struggle against the Yoshida Doctrine, striving for an ideological theory of self-determination. This became the source and foundation of the future “Juche ideology” – the basic principle of North Korean socialism associated with political independence and economic self-sufficiency. Only under the leadership of the working class and its political parties was it possible to formulate the correct strategies and tactics, carry out the armed struggle for independence in an organized manner, overcome the fragmentation and spontaneity of the struggle and achieve victory in the struggle for national independence. In the process of fighting for the complete elimination of the “Yoshida Doctrine” in their minds, the Korean communists, represented by Kim Il Sung, created their own political party and determined the main principle of the struggle: to consider the people as the main force of it. The creation of a political party and the determination of the status of the people as the main subject became the main and direct sources of the Korean “Juche ideology”.