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Kim Il Sung, the Jerusalem of the East and A New Perspective on North Korea’s Personality Cult

SPEAKER: Jonathan Cheng (Wall Street Journal China Bureau Chief)

 

DATE: Wednesday, September 16, 2026. 7:20PM (Seoul)

VENUE: Seoul Public Activities Center (SPAC, 서울시공익활동지원센터). ‘다목적홀’ (For more information, see below.)

 

SUMMARY:

Before it became known as the capital of the Kim dynasty, Pyongyang was known as the “Jerusalem of the East”—one of the most thoroughly Christianized cities in all of Asia. Among the city’s first converts to the faith were the grandparents and parents of Kim Il Sung, the man who, beginning in 1945, would spend the next half-century molding the North Korean state in his image, borrowing heavily from the American Presbyterianism that he himself was steeped in from his own boyhood. Cheng, a former Korea bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, shares his new book KOREAN MESSIAH, the product of twelve years of research and writing—a book that aims to reshape the way we think about North Korea.

 

BIO:

Jonathan Cheng is the China bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, overseeing coverage of the world’s second-largest economy across politics, economics, business, technology, and society. Jonathan leads a team of two dozen correspondents and researchers in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, and New York, with responsibility for the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

Previously, Jonathan was the Korea bureau chief for The Journal, running coverage of North Korea and South Korean politics and business. He began his career as an intern in The Journal’s Hong Kong bureau and also worked as a markets reporter in the Journal’s New York office.

Jonathan speaks English, Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese, French, and Korean. A native of Toronto, Jonathan graduated from Princeton University with a degree in history. He is the author of “Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots of North Korea’s Personality Cult,” which was published by Alfred A. Knopf in April 2026. He lives in Beijing and has traveled to North Korea twice.

 

ADMISSION (Online & In-person):

Free for RAS Korea Lifetime and Annual Members; W10,000 for Non-members; W5,000 for Non-member students (Student ID requested)

• If you would like to attend online Zoom,
• RSVP by September 16 (Tuesday). Zoom Link Request ☞ CLICK
• We will email you the link on the morning of the lecture day.
• For Non-member, payment to be remitted to the following account:
• SHINHAN BANK ACCOUNT # 100-026-383501 (RAS-KB)
• To attend in-person, RSVP is not required.

 

VENUE:

Seoul Public Activities Center (SPAC, 서울시공익활동지원센터)  is located at Yongsan Verdium Friends #101 (용산베르디움프렌즈 101동) B1, 40 Baekbeomro 99-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

Walk 2-3 minutes from ‘Exit 8’ of Samgakji Station (LINE 6 & 4) and take the elevator down to the B1 Floor.