science

Juche calendar

Juche calendar is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Juche calendar rather than just read about it. In short: The Juche calendar (Korean: 주체력) was the system of year-numbering used in North Korea between 1997 and 2024. Named after a key concept of North Korea's state ideology, it begins with the birth of founding father Kim Il Sung, whose birth year, 1912 in the Gregorian calendar, is Juche 1 in the Juche calendar.

Key takeaways

Juche calendar belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Juche calendar to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Juche calendar from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Juche calendar (Korean: 주체력) was the system of year-numbering used in North Korea between 1997 and 2024. Named after a key concept of North Korea's state ideology, it begins with the birth of founding father Kim Il Sung, whose birth year, 1912 in the Gregorian calendar, is Juche 1 in the Juche calendar. The calendar was adopted in 1997, three years after the death of Kim Il Sung. It has been reported that as of October 2024 the calendar is no longer in use, in favor of the Gregorian calendar.

History The calendar borrows elements from two historical calendars used in Korea, the traditional system of Korean era names and the Gregorian calendar in which years are tied to the traditional birth of Jesus. In contrast to these two, the Juche calendar begins with the birth of the founder of the Democratic People's Republic, Kim Il Sung. The decree on the Juche calendar was adopted on 8 July 1997, on the third anniversary of the death of Kim Il Sung. The same decree also designated the birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung as the Day of the Sun. The birth year of Kim Il Sung, 1912 in the Gregorian calendar, became "Juche 1" in the Juche calendar. The calendar began to be implemented on 9 September 1997, the Day of the Foundation of the Republic. On that date, newspapers, news agencies, radio stations, public transport, and birth certificates began to use Juche years. The Gregorian calendar was used alongside the Juche calendar until 2022.

Relinquishment North Korea began phasing out the Juche calendar in October 2024, as Rodong Sinmun stopped using the Juche calendar in favor of the Gregorian calendar. Official calendars for the year 2025, released on 1 January, replaced what would have been Juche 114 with 2025 instead. It is believed that the Juche calendar's abandonment is intended to de-emphasize the cult of personality around the founder of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, in order to strengthen that of Kim Jong Un.

Usage The year 1912 was "Juche 1" in the Juche calendar. There were no "before Juche" years; years before 1912 were given numbers based on the Gregorian calendar only. Ranges of years that began before 1912 and end after it were also given in Christian calendar numbers only. Any other years after 1912 would be given in either Juche years only, or in Juche years and the corresponding year in the Christian calendar in parentheses. In material pertaining to relations with foreign countries, "The Juche Era and the Christian Era [might] be used on the principles of independence, equality and reciprocity." During the system's period of use between 1997 and 2024, the Juche calendar was a popular souvenir among tourists visiting North Korea.

Examples

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Juche calendar

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Juche calendar claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Juche calendar before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Juche calendar ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Juche calendar

In research: Juche calendar appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Juche calendar in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Juche calendar is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1997 establishments in North Korea, 1997 introductions, 2024 disestablishments in North Korea, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Juche calendar outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Juche calendar in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Juche calendar means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Juche calendar out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Juche calendar in simple terms?

Why does Juche calendar matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Juche calendar?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Juche calendar.