MARXIST, MILITARISTIC… OR SOMETHING ELSE?
It’s hard for...
MARXIST, MILITARISTIC… OR SOMETHING ELSE?
It’s hard for Marxist supporters to reconcile their ideology with that ot the DPRK (North Korea). In North Korea it is not the ‘proletariat’ that have risen to defeat the ‘capitalist bourgeoisie’, but the military and they are considered to be the real driving force behind the revolution. Similarly, in a true Marxist country all the means of production are state-owned and while factories and other enterprises in the DPRK are, in theory, owned by the state, Felix Abt in his long sojourn in the country, found that in practice this isn’t necessarily the case.
Instead of Marxism, North Korea has adopted ‘Juche’; literally “self-reliance”, which states that the Korean masses are the masters of the country’s development. However, they also adhere to ‘Songun,’ or “military first”, which gives priority to the Korean People’s army when allocating resources and in the affairs of state.
Therefore, are the military in charge? Not really. At the top power is shared by a coalition: top party cadres (such as from the Organisation and Guidance Department), top generals and top CEOs (of major hard-currency earning business conglomerates), all under the leadership of the supreme commander Kim.
Songun has flourished through an atmosphere of insecurity brought about by the hostility of the West, with its crippling sanctions, political aggression and scathing media reportage. In a report in December 2013 the International Crisis Group wrote that “for China de-nuclearisation is a long-term goal through alleviating North Korea’s insecurity for which it considers the U.S. principally responsible.” But while America and its Western allies continue to cultivate this national insecurity it seems likely that Songun will remain as a pervading ideology in North Korea.
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“A Capitalist in North Korea: My Seven Years in the Hermit Kingdom” by Felix Abt http://www.amazon.com/Capitalist-North-Korea-Hermit-Kingdom/dp/0804844399/ref=sr_1_16?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389673356&sr=1-16&keywords=north+korea
