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Juche is a complex, difficult-to-translate ethos espousing strength, self-reliance, and the theory that “man is the master of his destiny.” Juche is the founding ideology of North Korea and . It was developed by the country’s first Great Leader, Kim Il-sung. Juche has evolved over the years—often based on the whims of the government—and has been used widely as propaganda for the values of stoicism, isolationism, and overzealous self-defense and military greatness that keep North Korean citizens focused on giving their all to the regime even as they starve and suffer. Barbara Demick positions suggests that while juche as a founding ideology that, while was initially meant to galvanize the people of a small, impoverished country, it has been transformed over the years into less of afrom a rallying cry than to a death sentence for citizens who cling to its failed promises.
Juche Quotes in Nothing to Envy
The Nothing to Envy quotes below are all either spoken by Juche or refer to Juche. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1
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The red letters leap out of the gray landscape with urgency. They march across the fields, preside over the granite cliffs of the mountains, punctuate the main roads like mileage markers, and dance on top of railroad stations and other public buildings.
LONG LIVE KIM IL-SUNG.
KIM JONG-IL, SUN OF THE 21ST CENTURY.
LET’S LIVE OUR OWN WAY.
WE WILL DO AS THE PARTY TELLS US.
WE HAVE NOTHING TO ENVY IN THE WORLD.
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Chapter 2
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Yet for all their wealth, the Japanese Koreans occupied a lowly position in the North Korean hierarchy. No matter that they were avowed Communists who gave up comfortable lives in Japan, they were lumped in with the hostile class. The regime couldn't trust anyone with money who wasn't a member of the Workers' Party. They were among the few North Koreans permitted to have contact with the outside, and that in itself made them unreliable; the strength of the regime came from its ability to isolate its own citizens completely.
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Chapter 17
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She thought of Chang-bo especially when she was eating. How that man loved to eat! He would have so enjoyed the sausage. […] Then her thoughts drifted to her son. Her memories were so tinged with guilt and shame that she couldn't even speak about him. So strong, so handsome—such a tragedy to have lost him at twenty-five. How much life he had missed. How much they had all missed, herself too, her daughters, locked away in North Korea, working themselves to death. For what? We will do as the party tells us. We will die for the general. We have nothing to envy. We will go our own way. She had believed it all and wasted her life. Or maybe not.
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Juche Term Timeline in Nothing to Envy
The timeline below shows where the term Juche appears in Nothing to Envy. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...that he produced many propaganda films. The movies denigrated capitalism and extolled the values of juche.
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Chapter 3
...Song proved herself to be a model citizen and a perfect emblem of Kim Il-sung’s juche ideology. Drawing on Marxism-Leninism, Confucianism, and intense nationalism, juche encourages stoicism and intense self-reliance, completely...
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Through juche, Demick writes, Kim Il-sung hoped to build both a better country and better people. Seeking...
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Chapter 4
Though North Korea affected a self-sufficient stance rooted in juche, it was always dependent on subsidized rice, fertilizer, medicine, and transportation equipment from its Communist...
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Chapter 8
...beginning in 1912, the year of Kim Il-sung’s birth. The year was not 1994, but Juche 84. Though Kim Jong-il was now the head of state, Kim Il-sung was named the...
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