With his scientific insight into revolutionary practice of the popular masses in the era of Juche, President Kim Il Sung applied the Juche idea in the field of economic construction and thus created the theory of building an independent national economy.

President Kim Il Sung said.

“Under the wise leadership of the Party, our people have built a powerful socialist, independent, national economy in a short period of their history by carrying out the policy of building an independent national economy successfully under the revolutionary banner of self-reliance.”

It was an urgent requirement of the people’s revolutionary practice in the era of Juche and the Korean revolution to create the theory of building an independent national economy.

Entering the 20th century when the masses of the people who had been oppressed and humiliated in the past made history and shaped their destiny independently and creatively, the Juche era was ushered in and the popular masses’ struggle for independence in all fields of social life including politics, economy and culture unfolded dynamically with a national state as a unit on a worldwide scale.

In order to fully realize the masses’ independence under such conditions, those countries which were building a new society had to build economy by relying on their own strength. In other words, it was necessary for them to build an independent national economy.

Building an independent national economy presented as a vital issue in Korea, a colonial agricultural country which had been economically and technologically backward in the past due to domination and plunder of the Japanese imperialists.

The Japanese imperialists who occupied Korea did not develop industry of producing finished goods in Korea but built industry of producing mainly raw materials or semi-finished products and some of munitions industry needed to their aggressive war while extremely restricting development of Korea’s national industry. As a result, the only Korea had after liberation was the backward and deformed industry. The backward and deformed industry, the leftover of the Japanese imperialists, was a major fetter hindering sound social development of Korea.

The course of economic development of national states in the era of Juche and the backward economic situation of Korea urgently required creating the theory on economic construction that gives scientific explanations.

Based on deep insight into the requirement of the era of Juche and the urgent requirement of the then economic development in Korea, President Kim Il Sung made energetic efforts to provide the theory of building an independent national economy.

The President unfolded a far-reaching plan of building an independent national economy with the immortal Juche idea in the early period of the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle, and in line with the plan he put forward the line of building an independent national economy after liberation when Korea began to build a new society.

Later, the President put forward many original lines and policies to build an independent national economy in each stage of the developing revolution and wisely led the Korean people’s struggle for their realization, and in this course, the President created precious and rich ideas, theories and experiences.

The theory of building an independent national economy created by the President comprehends ideas and theories including essence and characteristic, main contents and principles for the building of an independent national economy as well as rich experiences gained by the Korean people in building an independent national economy.

Building an independent national economy means building an economy which is free from dependence on others and which stands on its own feet, an economy which serves one’s own people and develops on the strength of resources of one’s own country and by the efforts of one’s own people.

The essential characteristic of an independent national economy, the economy in which the Juche idea is applied, is that the working masses of the people are masters of an independent national economy and its noble mission is to serve the realization of the masses’ independence.

The theory of building an independent national economy has it as the main contents to establish many-sided and comprehensive economic structure, equip the economy with modern techniques, train the national technical cadres extensively and build reliable and independent raw material and fuel bases.

The theory also considers self-reliance as the fundamental principle, the lifeline to be adhered to consistently in building an independent national economy.

That the theory of building an independent national economy was created in the DPRK is one of the precious exploits performed by President Kim Il Sung in leading wisely the Korean people’s struggle for a new society.