Kim-Il- Sung, watercolor on paper

The next religion ranked by size is Juche.

Juche is the only government-authorized ideology in North Korea, to the point of excluding all other religions. "Juche" means "self-reliance" in the Korean language. Some writers cited in the Adherents.com database (under "Juche" as well as "Kimilsungism") classify Juche as a North Korean form of Marxist Communism. Juche began in the 1950s and is the official philosophy promulgated by the North Korean government and educational system. Its promoters describe Juche as simply a secular, ethical philosophy and not a religion. But, from a sociological viewpoint Juche is clearly a religion, and in many ways is even more overtly religious than Soviet-era Communism or Chinese Maoism.

Kim Il-sung (15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a Korean communist, and later Juche, politician who led North Korea from its founding in 1948 until his death in 1994.^[2] He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death. He was also the General Secretaryof the Workers Party of Korea.

During his tenure as leader of North Korea, he ruled the nation with autocratic power and established an all-pervasive cult of personality. From the mid-1960s, he promoted his self-developed Juchevariant of communist national organisation.^[3] Following his death in 1994, he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il. North Korea officially refers to Kim Il-sung as the "Great Leader" (Suryong in Korean 수령) and he is designated in the constitution as the country's "Eternal President". His birthday is apublic holiday in North Korea.