North Korea love Juche as it unites Kim Jong Un to his people

As per reports, Juche is a word that is easily recognisable in North Korea hammered into dozens of propaganda signages and imprinted into dozens of official media reports and on the lips of guides who show off the grand monuments which are built in its honour. 

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Meaning and significance of Juche

The word is Juche, pronounced as Ju-chay, is more of a political ideology but may appear to be a religion for it has the ability to lead devotion amongst natives of North Korea and is a symbol of state power. The translation is self-reliance which often confuses outsiders. The Government uses the term liberally including at UN where a North Korean official shall speak on September 30 at the annual General Assembly. North Korea often calls Nuclear bombs as the treasured sword of Juche, for example, the new weapons fire Juche shells or The August test of a new rocket launch marked a fast-paced development of Juche-oriented defence industry. The visitors too can select to dole out at least two Juche-related topics in a Pyongyang Karaoke parlour: "Juche, Iron is the best" and "the way of Juche is the Way of Korea."

Juche is also used to count the gone-by years, for example, the current year is Juche 108 as it has been 108 years since the nation's founder Kim II Sung was born. North Korea has officially embodied Juche as the new ideological theme of the Kim Jong Un era replacing his father's military-first policies as reportedly claimed by Joshua Pollack who is a North Korea expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and a close observer of country's propaganda. The expert said that the crux of it is that indigenous progress in science and technology is presumed to decode national defence problems and economic progress alike. 

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Critics of Juche

Reports suggest that Critics call Juche successful but a scatted reference, a propaganda machine that permits North Korea to enliven its citizens with a nationalistic cry in wake of a stream of sanctions and shedding responsibility for the economic mess. For disaster after disaster, the Soviet Union who was the country's key supporter, in the 1990s a famine that same decade; a relentless barrage of economic sanctions-for every problem there is one answer and that Juche. However, despite this resolve, the country is mostly reliant on outside help. For example, South Korea has coughed up about $5.8 billion in aid to North Korea and economic projects by a government fund set up in 1991 to encourage inter-Korea relations as per South Korea's state-run Export-import Bank of Korea which runs the fund.  Stephen Haggard who is a North Korea expert says that self-reliance claims of Juche do not stand as North Korea has long been surviving on International community funding. 

The essence of Juche

According to reports, North Koreans has little doubt over Juche. Kim Chang Kyong who is the head of North's Social Scientists Association said that the essence of the Juche idea is the master of his own destiny. He says that Understanding of North Korea cannot be done without understanding Juche as all achievements of the country are linked to the idea which is the cornerstone of guidelines of the party and state. He further added that 170 meters or 560-foot Tall tower of Juche idea are a soaring testament to the concept built-in 1982 for Kim II Sung's 70th birthday, guide Choe Hye Oke has a definition of the term which is if one believes in the local people and relies on them, one can get the universe that is what the meaning of Juche is. 

(with inputs from AP)

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