Is the modern North Korean idea of Juche related to the ancient Chinese philosophy of legalism?

by Delstein

Recently I've learned about legalism, the ancient Chinese philosophy, and many of its idea sounded rather similar to that of Juche in North Korea, especially the idea of strict control of the people and fierce independence. Are the two related?

[deleted]

Juche means self reliance and is more or less combined modern product of sojunghwa and isolationism. Sojunghwa comes from junghwa, which means sinocentric. After the fall of Ming dynasty from Manchurians (who were considered uncivilized), Chosun saw itself as the inheritor and the last bastion of "civilization" for a brief period. This ideology is quite rooted in many Koreans in the form of rampant racism against non-Koreans.

In the last few decades of Chosun/Lee dynasy saw the Qing dynasty being essentially overthrown by western colonial influences and ideas. They also saw the Japanese reject traditional and many cultural ideals in favor of Western thought which was seen by many as dishonorable and shameful. In order to prevent this happening in Chosun, the authorities sought to vehemently reject all foreigners, through complete isolation earning its nickname "Hermit Kingdom".

I would say that the two are pretty much unrelated considering that Kim family is only trying to keep its populace under strict control through brutality rather than law.