A Conversation with WSJ's China Bureau Chief: Jonathan Cheng

​📖 Join AAJA-NY for a compelling conversation with Jonathan Cheng, The Wall Street Journal's China bureau chief and former Korea bureau chief, about his debut book, Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots of North Korea's Personality Cult, a landmark history of North Korea, told through the rise of the Kim dynasty and its surprising ties to American Christianity.

​Jonathan Cheng takes us deep inside Pyongyang, a city once so dominated by Christianity that it was known as the “Jerusalem of the East.” At the center of this story is North Korea’s founder, Kim Il Sung, son of two fervent Christians and progenitor of an ideology known as Kimilsungism, an exercise in idolatry that has elevated him, and his successor son and grandson, to Christlike status, from the humble manger where he was born to the subway seat on which the venerated leader once placed his posterior, cordoned off as if it were a religious relic.

✏️ Jonathan Cheng is the China bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal running coverage of the Korean peninsula, including politics and society in both North and South Korea. A native of Toronto, he lives in Beijing. He has traveled to North Korea twice.

​⏰ Agenda:
6:00 PM - 6:40 PM Check In
6:50 PM - 7:30 PM Talk
7:30 PM - 8:00 PM Q&A + Raffle for a signed copy of Jonathan's book! (Ticket for raffle will be given upon entry.)

​Register now for an exclusive look at the process behind the book — plus a chance to win a signed copy of the book through our raffle!

​Please use your AAJA NY membership-associated email to register, or your CUNY/CU email if you are a current student. Membership and student status will be vetted upon event registration.