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'Korean Messiah': Book details how North Korea historically intertwined politics and faith

The cover of "Korean Messiah" and author Jonathan Cheng. (Courtesy of Penguin Random House and Gilles Sabrié)
Courtesy of Penguin Random House and Gilles Sabrié
The cover of "Korean Messiah" and author Jonathan Cheng. (Courtesy of Penguin Random House and Gilles Sabrié)

In his new book “Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots of North Korea’s Personality Cult,” Jonathan Cheng tells the history of North Korea through the Kim Dynasty and how it has so successfully intertwined politics and faith. It also looks at how Christianity was so dominant in Pyongyang that the city was known as the “Jerusalem of the East.”

Here & Now‘s Scott Tong speaks with Cheng, who is Beijing bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2026 WBUR

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