Hello and welcome to the G0 World Podcast. This is where you'll find extended versions of my

interviews on public television. I'm Ian Bremmer. And while the world suffers the consequences of the war in Iran,

Kim Jong-un is watching too. And he's feeling, well, pretty good, all things considered. For decades,

the Kim dynasty raced to build a nuclear arsenal

while the world tried everything to stop them.

They tried sanctions. They tried summits.

Nothing worked.

Fast forward a few decades, and North Korea is amassing a nuclear arsenal

while Iran's supreme leader is dead, at least the last one.

They've got a new one.

And its country is at war.

The lesson for Kim, hold on to that bomb. My guest this week, Jonathan Chang, has spent a decade

researching the Kim dynasty, including two trips inside North Korea itself. In his new book,

Korean Messiah, he traces the regime's extraordinary cult of personality

all the way back to its roots in American Protestantism.

Yes, you heard that right.

Jonathan is also the Wall Street Journal's Beijing Bureau Chief watching all this from China

at a moment when Xi Jinping is balancing its relationship with North Korea and with the West.

During a quick visit to New York, Chang came by to talk about all of that and more.

Let's get to it. Jonathan Chang, thanks for being here.

Thanks for having me.

It's a pleasure.

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