Join us for a wide-ranging conversation with the Wall Street Journal's China Bureau Chief Jonathan Cheng to examine the increasingly tense strategic landscape in Northeast Asia: How should we assess President Donald Trump's China strategy to date? What are the prospects for renewed U.S.–DPRK diplomacy? And how are regional actors recalibrating amid intensifying competition and fragile cooperation?
We will also explore Jonathan Cheng's new book Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots of North Korea's Personality Cult (Knopf, April 2026), uncovering the surprising ties between the Kim dynasty and American Christianity. What can the personality cult around North Korea's leaders tell us about emerging themes in global politics today? Bridging policy, biography, and history, this conversation offers a unique lens on the forces shaping the future of Northeast Asia and beyond.
Register now to hear Jonathan Cheng connect past and present to examine the broader strategic landscape, in conversation with Julian Gewirtz, a senior fellow at the Center on U.S.-China Relations and a former senior official in the Biden administration. Copies of the Korean Messiah will be on sale and book signing will follow the program.
Speakers
Jonathan Cheng is the China bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, and was previously the Korea bureau chief, 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.
Dr. Julian Gewirtz is a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. He served in multiple roles over four years in the Biden administration, including Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs at the National Security Council and Deputy China Coordinator at the State Department. Gewirtz is the author of Unlikely Partners (2017), Never Turn Back (2022) and Your Face My Flag (2022), a poetry collection.
From Korean Messiah to China’s 21st Century Helmsman
Host
Tue, Apr 14, 06:30 PM - 08:00 PM (EDT)
To be shared on approval (New York)
30 attendees
Join us for a wide-ranging conversation with the Wall Street Journal's China Bureau Chief Jonathan Cheng to examine the increasingly tense strategic landscape in Northeast Asia: How should we assess President Donald Trump's China strategy to date? What are the prospects for renewed U.S.–DPRK diplomacy? And how are regional actors recalibrating amid intensifying competition and fragile cooperation?
We will also explore Jonathan Cheng's new book Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots of North Korea's Personality Cult (Knopf, April 2026), uncovering the surprising ties between the Kim dynasty and American Christianity. What can the personality cult around North Korea's leaders tell us about emerging themes in global politics today? Bridging policy, biography, and history, this conversation offers a unique lens on the forces shaping the future of Northeast Asia and beyond.
Register now to hear Jonathan Cheng connect past and present to examine the broader strategic landscape, in conversation with Julian Gewirtz, a senior fellow at the Center on U.S.-China Relations and a former senior official in the Biden administration. Copies of the Korean Messiah will be on sale and book signing will follow the program.
Speakers
Jonathan Cheng is the China bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, and was previously the Korea bureau chief, 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.
Dr. Julian Gewirtz is a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. He served in multiple roles over four years in the Biden administration, including Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs at the National Security Council and Deputy China Coordinator at the State Department. Gewirtz is the author of Unlikely Partners (2017), Never Turn Back (2022) and Your Face My Flag (2022), a poetry collection.