Jonathan Cheng is the China bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal and was previously the Korea bureau chief, overseeing coverage of the Korean Peninsula, including politics and society in both North and South Korea. His new book, “Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots of North Korea's Personality Cult,” traces the history of North Korea, intertwining politics and faith.
Liu Institute Faculty Fellow Sharon Yoon, associate professor of Korean Studies in the Keough School of Global Affairs and leader of the institute’s Korea Working Group, will moderate the discussion.
Sponsored by the Liu Institute for Asia and Asia at the Keough School for Global Affairs, the event is free and open to the public.
About the Speaker
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. Jonathan lives in Beijing and has traveled to North Korea twice.
Biography courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
Originally published at asia.nd.edu.