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.
-
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. -
The new leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party will be the country's next prime minister. The current prime minister is stepping down after serving only one year since taking office in September.
-
Taro Kono is seen as a political maverick with liberal views on social policy. He is popular with the public, but his own party's power brokers may hesitate to make him the leader next week. -
President Biden hosts the leaders of Japan, Australia and India at the White House on Friday. The four key democracies are teaming up to counter China, which is also a major trading partner.
-
President Biden will meet on Friday with the leaders of Japan, Australia and India. Their agenda includes the pandemic and climate change. But analysts say the Quad group is mainly about China. -
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's exit raises the specter of a return to a "revolving door" succession of Japanese leaders. -
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced he will not run for reelection — effectively ending his tenure this month. He told reporters he wanted to focus his efforts on handling the pandemic.
-
North Korea is trying to purge foreign cultural influences, including South Korean variations on the language that the two countries share. Experts say controlling language is an uphill battle. -
North and South Korea have reopened a hotline that was closed for nearly 14 months. "We hope that inter-Korean communications are never again suspended," a South Korean official said. -
Companies that spent big to back the Tokyo Olympics are scaling back their associations with the Games, which are unpopular among many Japanese people.
