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.
-
The influential prime minister worked to revive the economy with his trademark "Abenomics" and rebuild Japan's role on the global stage. His assassination stunned a nation where gun violence is rare. -
Some fans say they can relate to the artists' need to pause. For Korean stars, "in exchange for a chance at worldwide fame, they give up a lot of control over their own life," a K-pop expert says. -
After saying there were no cases, officials on May 12 announced an outbreak. But without an adequate supply of tests, some say North Korea is "flying blind." And it still doesn't have vaccines. -
A White House official said Biden's comments did not reflect a policy shift, even though the U.S. traditionally has avoided making such an explicit security guarantee to Taiwan. -
Experts say the North's fast pace in testing activity shows its dual goal of advancing its weaponry and applying pressure on Washington over a deepening freeze in nuclear negotiations. -
North Korea is reportedly working up to testing of a longer-range intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the whole of the continental U.S. -
The politically inexperienced Yoon Suk Yeol's pledge to get tough on North Korea could mark a sharp break with the outgoing liberal administration's policies. -
Young voters are considered a key voting bloc as the ruling Democratic Party and the conservative opposition People Power Party vie to secure the presidency. But gender issues divide South Koreans. -
South Koreans in their 20s and 30s make up a third of voters, and candidates want to win them over. Many young voters are over the folks in power, a lot of whom are from an older activist generation. -
Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi and adapted from a 2014 short story by Haruki Murakami, the film dramatizes some of the celebrated author's trademark themes: loss, guilt, the interplay of art and life.
