North Korea's Juche ideology and its implications on Pyongyang's relations with Washington 1994-2004 : a North Korean Perspective

In 2004, the political stalemate between North Korea and the United States continues. Pyongyang´s and Washington´s relations have been filled with hostility and antagonism since the division of the Korean Peninsula in 1945. during the Kim Il-sung era, the Cold War influenced the development of North Korean ideology, referred to as Juche, and formed an ideology based on self-reliance with strong antiimperialist and US rhetoric, which has determined North Korean foreign policy since 1955. The Kim Jong-il leadership is confronted with a unipolar system that has made North Korean ideology inadequate for the challenges of the new world order. As a consequence, Juch ideology had to be altered to fit the transformed conditions, and therefore, in 1998, Kim Jong-il implemented Kangsung Taeguk as the nation´s guiding strategy. The intention behing Kangsung Taeguk is to make North Korea into a strong and powerful nation ideologically, militarily and economically in order to show foremost the United States that Pyongyang will not be toppled by the sole remaining super power. This report is an attempt to, from a North Korean perspective, analyze how Juche ideology and Kangsung Taeguk have developed ahd shaped North Korean relations with the united States from 1994 to 2004.