Professor Michael Seth
Interview with Professor Michael Seth: Professor of East Asian and World History at James Madison University
Interviewers: Isaac Gray, Daniel Leibowitz, Ben Sachrison, and Connor Smith
(Conducted via email)
Date: 9 December, 2013
Group: How would you define the Juche philosophy?
Michael Seth: Korean nationalism. The philosophy is very vague and almost incoherent. Because it is so vague it can be interpreted to mean anything. But the central message is that North Korea must be self-reliant and not dependent on other countries. Since juche is Kim Il Sung’ own thought, it makes North Korea intellectually independent of other regimes.
Group: How does Juche differ from the ideologies of other communist countries?
Michael Seth: It has nothing to do with communism other than some references to socialism. It is best described as ultra-nationalism.
Group: Is Juche a nationalist ideology?
Michael Seth: Yes, absolutely.
Group: Do you feel that the recent Neo-Juche revival movement has brought back the revolutionary spirit of the 1950s and 1960s in North Korea?
Michael Seth: No. There has been a movement in the direction of North Korean ideology from Marxist-Leninism to a more vague Kim Il Sung nationalistic socialism to an extreme racial-nationalism.
Group: Is the North Korean government using Juche to oppress its people rather than for the greater good of the state? Why or why not?
Michael Seth: Oppress is an emotional term. By our standards North Korea is extremely oppressive since it allows for no individual freedom of thought and expression. A better way of thinking of Juche is that it is a means of intellectually isolating the people, since all wisdom comes from Kim Il Sung (and to a much lesser extent Kim Jong Il) there is no need to learn about thought from other countries. It stifles all freedom of thought since it contains all truth and and must be adhered to much as fundamental Christianity or Islam believe that their scriptures contain all truth and must be strictly adhered to.
North Korea has not really been communist or Marxist-Leninist since the 1970s.
Contrast with China, which still calls itself Marxist-Leninist. In China schools still teach about and students are taught to revere Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin; and Mao Zedong is viewed as following in their tradition. There are statues and parks named for them. North Korea NEVER mentions Marx, Engels, Lenin or Stalin and unlike China does not teach about them, and there are no statues or parks named for them.
Interviewers: Isaac Gray, Daniel Leibowitz, Ben Sachrison, and Connor Smith
(Conducted via email)
Date: 9 December, 2013
Group: How would you define the Juche philosophy?
Michael Seth: Korean nationalism. The philosophy is very vague and almost incoherent. Because it is so vague it can be interpreted to mean anything. But the central message is that North Korea must be self-reliant and not dependent on other countries. Since juche is Kim Il Sung’ own thought, it makes North Korea intellectually independent of other regimes.
Group: How does Juche differ from the ideologies of other communist countries?
Michael Seth: It has nothing to do with communism other than some references to socialism. It is best described as ultra-nationalism.
Group: Is Juche a nationalist ideology?
Michael Seth: Yes, absolutely.
Group: Do you feel that the recent Neo-Juche revival movement has brought back the revolutionary spirit of the 1950s and 1960s in North Korea?
Michael Seth: No. There has been a movement in the direction of North Korean ideology from Marxist-Leninism to a more vague Kim Il Sung nationalistic socialism to an extreme racial-nationalism.
Group: Is the North Korean government using Juche to oppress its people rather than for the greater good of the state? Why or why not?
Michael Seth: Oppress is an emotional term. By our standards North Korea is extremely oppressive since it allows for no individual freedom of thought and expression. A better way of thinking of Juche is that it is a means of intellectually isolating the people, since all wisdom comes from Kim Il Sung (and to a much lesser extent Kim Jong Il) there is no need to learn about thought from other countries. It stifles all freedom of thought since it contains all truth and and must be adhered to much as fundamental Christianity or Islam believe that their scriptures contain all truth and must be strictly adhered to.
North Korea has not really been communist or Marxist-Leninist since the 1970s.
Contrast with China, which still calls itself Marxist-Leninist. In China schools still teach about and students are taught to revere Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin; and Mao Zedong is viewed as following in their tradition. There are statues and parks named for them. North Korea NEVER mentions Marx, Engels, Lenin or Stalin and unlike China does not teach about them, and there are no statues or parks named for them.