Benjamin R. Young
The Russian nationalist philosopher Alexander Dugin wrote an essay last June calling for his countrymen to adopt North Korea's ideology of juche. Often translated as self-reliance, juche is more accurately understood as “self-strengthening.” “We need the same ideology i.e., the Russian Juche, the reign of the Russian Subject,” Dugin wrote. “North Korea is a beautiful thing. Interestingly, the Korean word 'Juche' is a deeply philosophical term and means 'subject' or even the Heideggerian Dasein. It has everything else included in it: independence, freedom, civil sovereignty.”
Dugin's proximity to Russian President Vladimir Putin is debatable. Still, this deep admiration for North Korea expressed by Moscow's pre-eminent public intellectual speaks volumes about the direction of Russian politics. Some Western pundits and observers believe North Korea and Russia have entered into a short-term partnership of mutual convenience, most clearly evident in Kim Jong-un's dispatching of North Korean troops to Ukraine. But Dugin's comments suggest that Putin's Russia and Kim's North Korea have become more closely aligned, and that their partnership in the Ukraine war is the beginning of a much more durable relationship.
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