The Birth of Juche Calendar

By Dr. Hyun Hwan Kim(Director of the Institute for the Study of Juche Idea In USA)

President Kim Il-sung was born on April 15, 1912, at Mangyongdae in Pyongyang, North Korea. The birth of President Kim Il-sung marked the beginning of a new era in human history, dividing it into pre-\and post-Juche Era."

Juche Idea establisher by President Kim Il-sung provides a guiding principle for humanity, outlining how we should live. It aims to realize the intrinsic human attribute of independence by presenting a guiding philosophy for how humanity should live. It emphasizes freedomrom any constraints\and dependencies, living autonomously as masters of both the world\and our destinies. President Kim Il-sung elucidated that the purpose\and fulfillment of human life lie in realizing\and advancing this attribute of independence, which is the essence of social beings. For him the process of realizing the independence of the people\and advancing their independence is, in essence, the course of history.

President Kim Il-sung regarded the people as the heaven. He always lived among the people, dedicating his entire life for the happiness of the people. Reflecting on his life fills one with boundless reverence, owing to his deep love for the people. His greatness lies in esteeming the people as highly as the heaven, immersing himself among them,\and sacrificing his life for their sake. It is within this idea of esteeming the people as highly as the heaven that the Juche Idea was born.

President Kim Il-sung expressed his idea towards the people as follows:

“Esteeming the people as highly as the heaven – this was my belief\and guiding principle. I believe in the principle of the people as the masters of revolution\and construction,\and the Juche principle of relying on their strength. This is my most revered political faith, which has guided me to dedicate my entire life for the people."

In the idea of esteeming the people as highly as the heaven, President Kim Il-sung discovered the truth of the Juche Idea. At the young age of 18, in June 1930, during a public meeting of leaders of anti-Japanese youth\organizations held in Karuizawa, China, he elucidated the principles of the Juche Idea\and declared the self-reliant line of the Korean revolution. This marked the historic event of the founding of the Juche Idea\and the birth of the revolutionary line of self-reliance. At the Karuizawa meeting, President Kim delivered his famous speech titled "The Course of the Korean Revolution." In this speech, the profound essence of the new guiding idea, fundamentally distinctrom past ideologies\and theories of revolution, was articulated. President Kim emphasized the following points in this historic speech,

"I acknowledge the firm stance\and attitude that the Korean people are the masters of the Korean revolution\and that the revolution must be carried out according to the specific conditions of Korea by the strength of the Korean people themselves.”

This perspective\and attitude, holding high awareness of the Korean people as the masters of the Korean revolution\and performing the revolution according to the concrete conditions of Korea by their own strength, is fundamentally distinctrom preceding progressive theories of revolution. It represents a worldview\and attitude centered on the people."

President Kim's Juche Idea, which was formed on the basis of trust in the Korean nation\and the Korean people since his youth, departedrom the traditional mindset that viewed the people as ignorant\and backward subjects of enlightenment. Instead, he saw the people as the teachers, the masters of revolution,\and the fundamental driving force behind the revolution.

"Enter into the midst of the people!” This slogan became the guiding principle that permeated President Kim's entire life. He truly embodied the qualities\and mindset of the people, seeing them as the teachers, the masters of revolution,\and the primary driving force behind it. President Kim emphasized that as a leader, he entered into the midst of the people, directly engaging with their upbringing, breath, gaze, expressions, speech, gestures,\and body language, learning muchrom them through his own eyes, ears,\and hands.

He emphasized that within the people lie philosophy, literature,\and political economy. President Kim believed that entering into the midst of the people is like taking a tonic, while not doing so is like ingesting poison. He summed up his philosophy of life with the following words:"

"I began revolutionary activities by entering into the midst of the people,\and even today, I continue the revolution by entering into their midst. Furthermore, I sum up my life by entering into the midst of the people."

 Today, the Party\and government of North Korea, guided by the reverence shown by President Kim Il-sung\and Chairman Kim Jong-il towards the people as highly as the heaven, dedicate themselves to fulfilling all endeavors for the benefit of the people, strictly upholding\and realizing the people's autonomous demands\and interests. They prioritize the demands\and interests of the people, making them the cornerstone of party policies\and state affairs,\and presenting the happiness\and harmony of the people as the absolute criterion for evaluating the strength of the nation. In North Korea, all manner of societal maladies\and tendencies, including feudalism, bureaucracy,\and corrupt practices, are regarded as obstacles to the realization of people-centered politics,\and they are uprooted to thoroughly protect\and advocate for the rights of the people.

 Secretary Kim Jong-un has emphasized the following,

“Aligning all party\and state affairs with dedicated service to the people is a fundamental requirement of people-centered politics.”

Secretary Kim Jong-un emphasized that the people are the roots of the party\and the state,\and the existence\and development of the party\and the state are determined by the well-being\and happiness of the people. He stressed that the party, the government,\and the economy\and culture all exist for the sake of the people, aiming to provide them with civilized\and happy lives. Secretary Kim Jong-un, with a noble worldview that believes there is nothing more to desire even if one becomes as insignificant as a grain of sand scattered on the ground for the sake of the people,\and with a determination that endures any suffering for the sake of the people, continues to tread the path of 'serving the people' tirelessly. He elucidated that the politics of North Korea should be resolutely people-centered, serving the people's interests\and needs at all times."

Thus, the Juche Idea established by President Kim Il-sung has been inherited\and developed into the spirit of 'people-first' politics by Secretary Kim Jong-un. In Korea, there is nothing more valuable than the people, the fundamental essence of the country,\and there is no sacred principle higher than the demands\and interests of the people. This resolute subjective perspective is being realized in North Korea.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which has practiced the idea of Juche, has named April 15, 1912, the birthdate of President Kim Il Sung, as the "Day of the Sun"\and began using the "Juche calendar," designating 1912 as the first year of Juche. As you may know, the Dangun Era (Dangi) is a system of dating that startsrom the founding of Gojoseon in Pyongyang by our ancestor, Dangun Wanggeom, in 2333 BC. Therefore, this year, 2024, corresponds to the Dangi year 4357 (2024 + 2333). The Gregorian calendar (AD) is a dating system used in Western culture, which marks this year as AD 2024. The abbreviation AD stands for Anno Domini, which means "in the year of the Lord" in Latin, referring to the year of Jesus Christ's birth. BC, on the other hand, stands for Before Christ, indicating years before the birth of Christ.

To make the "Juche calendar" more understandable to foreigners, the year of President Kim Il Sung's birth, 1912, is taken as the starting point. Following this, the years are designated as AJ (Anno Juche, meaning "in the year of Juche") for years after Juche\and BJ (Before Juche) for years before Juche. Therefore, this year, 2024, corresponds to the Juche calendar as the 113th year of Juche (2024 - 1912 + 1),\or AJ 113. The year of the annexation of Korea by Japan, 1910, would be designated as BJ 2 (1912 - 1910) in the Juche calendar.

With the people-centered idea of Juche, the brave Korean people pioneered the "Juche era," truly striving to construct a world of genuine independence, equality,\and peaceful justice on Earth. In an unsettling\and chaotic era dominated by imperialist forces of aggression\and exploitation, the North Korean people, in\order to safeguard their independence\and socialism,\and to uphold the sacred principles of revolution, fought against the enemies of humanity, giving unimaginable sacrifices of blood\and sweat. Representing justice most clearly in the world\and steadfastly defending the independence of the people, the North Korean people have long overwhelmed\and punished the imperialist forces of aggression\and plunder, transforming the world's misguided political landscape. North Korea has rectified the unfair international\order created by imperialism\and the misguided behaviors that have acquiesced to it, leading the struggle to construct a genuine human society, a just society\where the independence\and equality of all countries\and peoples are guaranteed, based on trust\and mutual respect,\and\where cooperation among nations is fostered.

In the future, not only the North Korean people but also dedicated struggles of peoplerom all corners of the world will propel humanity forward vigorously on the path of independence\and socialism. Humanity will march forward to establish a true era of independence, the era of Juche, on this Earth through relentless struggles. Before long, humanity will widely adopt the Juche calendar (AJ, BJ) instead of the Gregorian calendar (AD, BC). That day is not far off.