Criticism
Human rights monitoring organizations and political analysts such as Brian Reynolds Myers continually report that the actual situation in North Korea bears no resemblance to Juche theory, citing the fact that North Korea's economy has depended heavily on imports and foreign aid, both before and after the collapse of the Communist trading bloc. Critics also claim that the opinions of the people have no actual weight in decision-making. Leading Juche theorist Hwang Jang-yop added his voice to these criticisms after defecting to South Korea, although he maintained faith in the Juche Idea as he understood it.
Political scientist Han S. Park in his book Juche: The Politics of Unconventional Wisdom (2002) and theologian Thomas J. Belke in Juche: A Christian Study of North Korea's State Religion (1999) have both likened Juche to a religious movement. Myers goes so far as to propose that Juche is merely a sham developed to extol Kim Il-sung as a political thinker alongside Mao Zedong.
Juche become the subject of satire by influential Chinese novelty film director Hu Ge.
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