© 2026 Texas Public Radio
Real. Reliable. Texas Public Radio.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scam Advisory: We’ve been notified of individuals posing as The Source producers and requesting payment for booking. TPR never charges for interviews or appearances. Booking requests can be verified at thesource@tpr.org. Report incidents to reportfraud.ftc.gov.

'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

Tags
Here & Now Newsroom