Juche has become one of the world's newest and most strongly held religions - or perhaps it should be considered a form of philosophy instead. It exists only in one country, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and all the people of that country, so it is said, follow that belief system and no other. So what is it?

Juche is a form of philosophy created by Kim Il Sung, who was the first president of North Korea and who organised a personality cult around himself and his family to promote his ideas. Originally, juche referred to the age-old Korean virtue of self-reliance, which is a quality that had been relied upon through the long centuries of self-enforced isolation that saw Korea being named the 'Hermit Kingdom.' This was updated by Kim Il-Sung to include aspects of Marxism-Leninism and Maoist thought but, later, also to downplay these influences when relations with the Soviet Union or with China became problematic, as happened from time to time.

Although juche is considered to be a uniquely Korean conception, it is also held to be applicable to all developing nations and their desire to achieve a state of true independence - free, that is, of the actions and desires of any other state.