Anthony Kuhn
Anthony Kuhn is NPR's correspondent based in Seoul, South Korea, reporting on the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and the great diversity of Asia's countries and cultures. Before moving to Seoul in 2018, he traveled to the region to cover major stories including the North Korean nuclear crisis and the Fukushima earthquake and nuclear disaster.
Kuhn previously served two five-year stints in Beijing, China, for NPR, during which he covered major stories such as the Beijing Olympics, geopolitical jousting in the South China Sea, and the lives of Tibetans, Uighurs, and other minorities in China's borderlands.
He took a particular interest in China's rich traditional culture and its impact on the current day. He has recorded the sonic calling cards of itinerant merchants in Beijing's back alleys, and the descendants of court musicians of the Tang Dynasty. He has profiled petitioners and rights lawyers struggling for justice, and educational reformers striving to change the way Chinese think.
From 2010-2013, Kuhn was NPR's Southeast Asia correspondent, based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Among other stories, he explored Borneo and Sumatra, and witnessed the fight to preserve the biodiversity of the world's oldest forests. He also followed Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, as she rose from political prisoner to head of state.
Kuhn served as NPR's correspondent in London from 2004-2005, covering stories including the London subway bombings and the marriage of the Prince of Wales to the Duchess of Cornwall.
Besides his major postings, Kuhn's journalistic horizons have been expanded by various short-term assignments. These produced stories including wartime black humor in Iraq, musical diplomacy by the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang, North Korea, a kerfuffle over the plumbing in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Pakistani artists' struggle with religious extremism in Lahore, and the Syrian civil war's spillover into neighboring Lebanon.
Prior to joining NPR, Kuhn wrote for the Far Eastern Economic Review and freelanced for various news outlets, including the Los Angeles Times and Newsweek. He majored in French literature as an undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis, and later did graduate work at the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American studies in Nanjing.
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In a summit in Russia, President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un showed how geopolitical tensions have brought the two neighbors isolated by the West into closer alignment. -
U.S. officials announced last week that the two leaders would meet in Vladivostok, as Russian President Putin seeks more arms to supply his war in Ukraine.
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Local fishermen and the government of neighboring China are among the critics of Japan's decision to release water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.
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Japan's government says tomorrow it will begin releasing more than a million tons of wastewater into the Pacific Ocean from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant.
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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made the announcement after meeting with his cabinet. Water will be released through an underground tunnel beginning Thursday, weather conditions permitting, Kishida said.
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Leaders in South Korea, Japan and the United States are celebrating new security agreements announced Friday. The plans, which are not treaties, come as the countries' Asian rivals also grow closer.
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The report from the government-owned and -run news agency marks North Korea's first public confirmation of the incident since 23-year-old Travis King crossed the border in July.
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Tensions in East Asia are on the rise, with the first North Korean ICBM launch in some three months and the U.S. expected to send its first nuclear-armed sub to the region in decades.
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"He made it big all due to his own efforts. We had nothing to do with it," Ohtani's former coach, Shoji Asari, says of the Los Angeles Angels' superstar. Asari emphasized fun over winning.
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In Japan, there are growing concerns about the dominance of older politicians who lavish welfare spending on older voters, while young politicians are rare, in a situation dubbed "silver democracy."
