True Way to Economic Self-sufficiency

The Juche idea claims that in order to ensure economic self-sufficiency, it is necessary to adhere to the principle of self-reliance in economic construction, to develop the economy in a multi-sided and comprehensive way, to equip the economy with modern technique and train large number of national technical personnel, and to build one’s own basis of raw material and fuel.

In order to be self-sufficient in the economy, it is necessary to adhere to the principle of self-reliance in economic construction.

General Secretary Kim Jong Il said:

In order to build an independent national economy, it is essential to adhere to the principle of self-reliance in economic construction.

Self-reliance is the revolutionary spirit and fighting principle of the revolutionaries who make revolution to the last.

Without the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance, it is impossible to carry out the complicated and arduous revolutionary struggle. As economic construction is a revolutionary struggle, it is impossible to solve arduous and complicated problems arising in the building of an independent national economy, without the spirit to do things on one’s own.

Those who do not believe in their strength cannot do anything and produce creative initiatives, kneeling down before difficulties. Only adhering to the revolutionary principle of self-reliance, is it possible to use the people’s strength and resources of the country, build the independent economy depending on one’s own fund and technique, develop the economy actively and at high rate overcoming difficulties, thus achieving prosperity. Self-reliance is the only way out.

This is proved by the fact that Korean people have built the independent national economy under the revolutionary banner of self-reliance.

They were handed over backward economy from the old society and that economy was destroyed in the war time. In this arduous situation they successfully fulfilled the arduous task of post-war rehabilitation and built socialist economy at a considerably high speed. This is because the party and the people in this country maintained the revolutionary principle of self-reliance and mobilized and used its own strength and internal reserves.

In the period of “arduous march” and the forced march, they built Anbyon Youth Power Station, Taechon Power Station, Songwon Dam, many small and medium power stations, Youth Hero Mortorway, Chongryu Bridge, Mt.Kuwol Park, realigned lands in Kangwon Province, North Phyongan Province, South Hwanghae Province, produced sophisticated modern machine tools and successfully launched satellite “Kwangmyongsong No.1”. This is the result born by the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance.

The reality tells if one makes strenuous efforts, one can build independent national economy in difficult situation, but cannot build such economy, if one does not believe in one’s strength.

It is also important in achieving economic self-sufficiency to develop economy in a multi-sided and comprehensive way.

Multi-sided development means to equip the economy with different sectors and the comprehensive development means to equip the economy with all processes from the production of raw materials, semi-products to the production of finished products.

To develop economy in a multi-sided and comprehensive way is necessary to ensure independent material and cultural economy and to safely and rapidly develop the economy.

For instance, the big power chauvinists tried to make Korea join the “CMEA”.

The “CMEA” was the economic cooperative organization formed by the East European countries in January 1949 to rehabilitate the destroyed economy after the World War 2 and to counter the economic blockade by the US imperialists.

But the modern revisionists claimed “international division of labor” in order to make the organization tool to economically dominate and politically subjugate other countries.

For example, the country that is good in vegetable growing should export vegetables and import necessary machines.

The modern revisionists who were greedy for inexhaustible iron ores in Korea, tried to make it join the “CMEA” to bring iron ores at low price and sell machines at high price.

But President Kim Il Sung maintained the line of building independent national economy of the party, saying that if Korea participate in the international division of labor under the condition that it has no machine industry, it should supply raw materials to the members of the “CMEA” and that if so, Korea would have empty tunnels and would beg to other countries.

Korea rejected the pressure of the big power chauvinists and maintained the line of developing light industry and agriculture simultaneously while giving priority to the heavy industry and thus built multi-sidedly and comprehensively developed powerful independent national economy.

Herein lies correct way to economic self-sufficiency.

For the economic self-sufficiency, it is also necessary to equip the economy with modern technique and train large number of national technical personnel.

Technical dependency leads to economic dependency.

This is the era of science and technique. If one has not one’s own advanced technique, one has to depend on others. Only with one’s own technique, can one tap one’s natural resources effectively and develop economy multi-sidedly.

At present, many countries have rich fuel resources but cannot tap it or sell its semi-products at cheap price and buy machines and other commodities at high price, because they have not their own technique.

If the developing countries are to free themselves from this unfair status, they should develop science and technology and put the economy on a higher scientific and technical basis.

If a country is to be economically self-sufficient, it should train a large number of national technical personnel.

National technical personnel are a core force of technical development and direct agents who manage and develop country’s economy.

In the era of information, the mental labor plays big role in the production of material wealth and economic development depends on intelligent people, so the competition for elites becomes serious. Under this situation, it is specially important to train large number of national technical personnel.

What, then, is necessary for this end?

It is necessary to give stress on cultural revolution to enhance the people’s cultural and technical level and train huge army of national technical personnel.

Korea that has no university before liberation has given priority to the training of national technical personnel. As a result, it has completely enforced universal 11-year free compulsory education since 1975 and now has 310 universities and colleges and huge army of 2 million intellectuals. So, it wonderfully solved the problem of national technical personnel, the difficult problem after the liberation.

This became most valuable foundation for further consolidating independent national economy and constantly strengthening its power.

To solve this problem finally, it is necessary to intellectualize the whole society.

To intellectualize the whole society means to train comprehensively developed people with cultural and technical level tantamount to the level of university graduates.

Only then, is it possible to train revolutionarily and comprehensively developed national technical personnel and solve the problem completely.

It is effective way in satisfying the need for national technical personnel and in fully solving scientific and technical problems to enhance comprehensive cultural and technical level and qualitative level of national technical personnel according to the developing reality.

In order to build independent national economy, it is also necessary to build one’s own basis of raw materials and fuel.

As known, without raw material and fuel, production is inconceivable. Dependency of raw materials and fuel leads to economic dependency.

Without raw material and fuel, it is useless however big and modern factories one has. Although one imports good factories from abroad, if they cannot operate without raw materials and fuel, one will be only in debt. In that case one has to import raw materials from abroad. Then, such factories are for foreign country.

So it is important to build the basis of raw materials and fuel, in order to develop economy safely through economic self-sufficiency.

Of course it is impossible to solve all the necessary raw materials and fuel by oneself. But one should solve the raw materials and fuel that are needed in large quantity mainly by oneself. For this purpose, it is necessary to tap one’s own natural resources to the maximum and develop Juche-oriented industry that depends on one’s own raw material and fuel.

As mentioned above, it is possible to build self-sufficient economy when a country develops economy in a multi-sided and comprehensive way, equips the economy with modern technique, trains its own national technical personnel and builds its own basis of raw materials and fuel.

It is necessary to have correct understanding that independent national economy does not mean “closed economy”.

The building of independent national economy never means closed-door economy. Self-sufficient economy rejects economic domination and subjugation by other countries not international economic cooperation.

Mutual accommodation means cooperation giving what one has and taking what one has not. To develop economy, it is necessary to develop economic exchange and cooperation. The economic cooperation should serve the building of independent national economy.

The economic cooperation that does not serve the building of independent economy is meaningless.

When each country builds independent economy, it can help each other better. If one becomes backward economically, one will have nothing, how, then, one can help others? With nothing in hands, how can one exercise sovereignty in international economic relations?

When one builds strong independent economy, one can actively participate in international economic cooperation on equal footing and help others.

In other words, the building of independent economy is not confronted with international economic cooperation but serves the latter better.