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Korean messiah : Kim Il Sung and the Christian roots of North Korea's personality cult Cover Image Book

Korean messiah : Kim Il Sung and the Christian roots of North Korea's personality cult / Jonathan Cheng.

Kim Il Sung & the Christian roots of North Korea's personality cult (other title)
Cheng, Jonathan, (author.).

Summary:

"A landmark history of North Korea, told through the rise of the Kim Dynasty and its surprising ties to American Christianity--a spectacular, penetrating account of a world like no other. North Korea. The Hermit Kingdom. For eight decades, it has marched defiantly to its own beat, shaking off its Soviet and Chinese sponsors to emerge as one of the world's most enigmatic nations-a nuclear-armed state ruled by a dictatorial dynasty unlike any the world has seen. Underpinning the state is a personality cult larger and more soaked in religiosity than those constructed by Stalin or Mao-one that, unbeknownst to the world, traces its roots back to the Christian fervor of post-Civil War America. In Korean Messiah, Jonathan Cheng, the Wall Street Journal's China bureau chief and former Korea bureau chief, takes us deep inside Pyongyang, a city once so dominated by Christianity it was known as "the Jerusalem of the East." Cheng introduces us to Samuel Moffett, a Presbyterian missionary from Madison, Indiana who would venture into Pyongyang at the turn of the nineteenth century and build a remarkable following-one that would include the very Kim family that today presides over one of the world's harshest persecutors of the Christian faith. At the center of this story-its messiah-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 Christ-like 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. Drawing on letters, diaries, and never-before-unearthed archival material that temper and oftentimes contradict the glorious historical record promoted by Kim Il Sung's legions of hagiographers, Korean Messiah tells the true story of a country shrouded in fictions"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781524733490
  • ISBN: 1524733490
  • Physical Description: viii, 745 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 25 cm
  • Edition: First hardcover edition.
  • Publisher: New York, NY : Alfred A. Knopf, 2026.

Content descriptions

General Note:
"A Borzoi Book" -- title page verso.
Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 559-704) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
Prologue: An unexpected invitation -- Act I: The Jerusalem of the East -- Farewell to Madison -- Hermit kingdom -- Arrival -- The untamed Northwest -- The destruction of Pyongyang -- A new hope -- A new threat -- A church rises -- Act II: The bible-woman's son -- A prayer for Korea -- A Christian home -- Render unto Caesar -- Revolutionary days -- Wilsonian ideals -- Mansei -- Specter of socialism -- An education -- Ch'angdŏk days -- A father's legacy -- The Sunday school teacher -- Divine intervention -- Shintō shrines -- Act III: The sun of the nation -- A speech in Pyongyang -- A scramble for Korea -- A Moses-like leader for Korea -- A collision course -- Pastor versus church -- A church loyal to the leader -- A permanent division -- De-Stalinization -- A cult is born -- Rival faiths -- A cult without parallel -- Spreading the gospel of Kim -- Faith of a child -- Epilogue: Immortality

Search for related items by subject

Subject:
Kim, Il-sŏng, 1912-1994 > Cult.
Moffett, Samuel H. > Influence.
Political leadership > Korea (North)
Personality > Political aspects > Korea (North)
Heads of state > Korea (North) > Biography.
Missions, American > Korea (North) > History > 20th century.
Presbyterian Church > Korea (North) > History.
Korea (North) > Politics and government.
Genre:
Biographies.

Available copies

  • 5 of 10 copies available at NC Cardinal. (Show)
  • 0 of 1 copy available at Madison County Public Library.

Holds

  • 4 current holds with 10 total copies.
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Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Madison Main Library 951.93 CHE (Text) 30229101318383 Adult New Nonfiction Checked out 08/24/2026

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MARC Record

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264 1. ‡aNew York, NY : ‡bAlfred A. Knopf, ‡c2026.
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500 . ‡a"A Borzoi Book" -- title page verso.
504 . ‡aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 559-704) and index.
50500. ‡gPrologue: An unexpected invitation -- ‡gAct I: The Jerusalem of the East -- ‡tFarewell to Madison -- ‡tHermit kingdom -- ‡tArrival -- ‡tThe untamed Northwest -- ‡tThe destruction of Pyongyang -- ‡tA new hope -- ‡tA new threat -- ‡tA church rises -- ‡gAct II: The bible-woman's son -- ‡tA prayer for Korea -- ‡tA Christian home -- ‡tRender unto Caesar -- ‡tRevolutionary days -- ‡tWilsonian ideals -- ‡tMansei -- ‡tSpecter of socialism -- ‡tAn education -- ‡tCh'angdŏk days -- ‡tA father's legacy -- ‡tThe Sunday school teacher -- ‡tDivine intervention -- ‡tShintō shrines -- ‡gAct III: The sun of the nation -- ‡tA speech in Pyongyang -- ‡tA scramble for Korea -- ‡tA Moses-like leader for Korea -- ‡tA collision course -- ‡tPastor versus church -- ‡tA church loyal to the leader -- ‡tA permanent division -- ‡tDe-Stalinization -- ‡tA cult is born -- ‡tRival faiths -- ‡tA cult without parallel -- ‡tSpreading the gospel of Kim -- ‡tFaith of a child -- ‡gEpilogue: Immortality
520 . ‡a"A landmark history of North Korea, told through the rise of the Kim Dynasty and its surprising ties to American Christianity--a spectacular, penetrating account of a world like no other. North Korea. The Hermit Kingdom. For eight decades, it has marched defiantly to its own beat, shaking off its Soviet and Chinese sponsors to emerge as one of the world's most enigmatic nations-a nuclear-armed state ruled by a dictatorial dynasty unlike any the world has seen. Underpinning the state is a personality cult larger and more soaked in religiosity than those constructed by Stalin or Mao-one that, unbeknownst to the world, traces its roots back to the Christian fervor of post-Civil War America. In Korean Messiah, Jonathan Cheng, the Wall Street Journal's China bureau chief and former Korea bureau chief, takes us deep inside Pyongyang, a city once so dominated by Christianity it was known as "the Jerusalem of the East." Cheng introduces us to Samuel Moffett, a Presbyterian missionary from Madison, Indiana who would venture into Pyongyang at the turn of the nineteenth century and build a remarkable following-one that would include the very Kim family that today presides over one of the world's harshest persecutors of the Christian faith. At the center of this story-its messiah-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 Christ-like 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. Drawing on letters, diaries, and never-before-unearthed archival material that temper and oftentimes contradict the glorious historical record promoted by Kim Il Sung's legions of hagiographers, Korean Messiah tells the true story of a country shrouded in fictions"-- Provided by publisher.
60010. ‡aKim, Il-sŏng, ‡d1912-1994 ‡xCult.
60010. ‡aMoffett, Samuel H. ‡xInfluence.
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650 0. ‡aMissions, American ‡zKorea (North) ‡xHistory ‡y20th century.
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77608. ‡iOnline version: ‡aCheng, Jonathan. ‡tKorean messiah ‡dNew York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2026 ‡z9781524733506 ‡w(DLC) 2025019547
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