https://www.gzeromedia.com/video/gzero-world-clips/north-korea-the-cult-that-outlasted-stalin-and-mao
North Korea: The cult that outlasted Stalin and Mao
GZERO Staff
April 21, 2026
North Korea has a flag, a military, nuclear weapons, and a UN seat. But Jonathan Cheng says we fundamentally misread it if we don’t see it for what it is: a religious society.
The Kim cult has outlasted Stalin’s, outlasted Mao‘s, and is now in its third generation without any meaningful sign of fracture. The nukes protect against external threats. The cult handles everything else.
Now Kim Jong Un has done something his predecessors never dared: he’s repudiated unification with South Korea as a state goal, essentially declaring heresy against the founding promise of his grandfather. The fact that he got away with it says everything about how completely he has consolidated power. In that sense, Kim Jung Un has already rewritten the doctrine, argues Cheng. That’s not a stylistic shift. It’s a theological one.
About michelleclarke2015
Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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