Juche, officially the state ideology of North Korea, translates to “self-reliance” or “master of oneself.” Initiated by Kim Il Sung in 1955 and developed by Kim Jong Il, it is centered on the belief that the masses are the masters of their destiny, the ideology mandates total loyalty to the leader. As Jim Jones described it in Q205, “This is the central theme and doctrine of the leader of the only representative government of Korea, the Peoples Democratic government of North Korea, Communist North Korea.”
Jones also discussed the term in tape Q309, when he described it as
the concept [that] stands on three legislative, political independence, economic self-reliance, and military self-defense. An integral part of the juche concept is the axiom that the problems facing the Korean revolution – and there have been numerous difficulties over the years – must be solved on the basis of Korea’s concrete conditions, not on the basis of developmental theories mechanically imported from US imperialism.
Temple members used their understanding of the term as a point of pride in interacting with representatives of the Embassy of North Korea.