Jonathan Cheng

It's a real pleasure to be here.

Thanks for having me.

Well, it is communist to a degree.

I don't want to suggest that it isn't altogether.

It was founded under the auspices of the USSR at the end of World War II in 1945.

But I think that when we misunderstand North Korea, we misunderstand it by thinking that it is primarily a communist or socialist or Stalinist state.

It certainly is that, and it certainly is a nation state.

But I think perhaps even to think of it as a nation state doesn't quite, in my opinion, get to the essence of what North Korea is.

I would argue that what North Korea is at its root is it's a religious society.

It's a country, yes, of 25 million people.

It is cut off from the outside world.

It does have many trappings of statehood.

It has a seat at the United Nations.

It has a flag.

It has an anthem.

It has a military.

It has coinage.

It has postage stamps.

All of those are true.

And yet, when you really peel back the layers, what you get is a society that is built around the founding family, the Kim family.