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Juche Flag (North Korea)

image by Jens Pattke, 20 Oct 2006

Introduction
Description
Detail

See also:

Introduction

In the background of the anniversary mural in this photo there are three flags, waving from the hilltops in the upper right; the North Korean flag, the Korean Workers Party flag, and a red flag with writing in the canton.
Eugene Ipavec, 19 Oct 2006

The red flag reads "Juchoi," usually written in English as "Juche" or "Jouche," the official state's ideology of North Korea. The country does not define itself as Marxist-Leninist, as other Communist countries did in the past, but as "Juche". The word is usually translated in Internet texts as "self-reliance" or "main idea," but to be short, "Juche" is the Kim Il Sung path of Communism in the same way than "Maoism" was Mao's way.
Maybe that flag does not exist as a real cloth flag. According to the link sent, it looks more as a kind of symbol. In the image that "Juche flag" is above everything, meaning maybe that "Juche" is the official state's ideology of North Korea. However the flag can also exist as a real flag; it is very difficult to know for sure, unless it would appear in a photo as a real flag.
Francisco Gregoric, 19 Oct 2006

Given the importance of the ideology to the regime, it is likely someone would have observed this flag if it actually existed.
Eugene Ipavec, 19 Oct 2006

Description

I think the "eo" and "i" marked in the Romanisation image represent a vowel that was originally a diphthong, but they are now considered one vowel, romanised "e".
Jonathan Dixon, 20 Oct 2006

There are several ways of Romanising Korean Hangul, McCune-Reischauer system (modified) being official in North Korea: "Chuch'e" is North Korean McCune-Reischauer romanization for "주체", while "Juche" is South Korea's Revised Romanization and "主體" is Chinese (Hanja).
The two Korean Hangul syllables shown on this flag can also be written in separate jamos: "주체"
António Martins-Tuválkin, 23 Oct 2006

Detail

image by Jens Pattke, 20 Oct 2006