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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North Korea this year scrapped a five-year moratorium on testing ballistic missiles. So far, it has not resumed testing nuclear bombs. But it is believed to be about to do that very soon.
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The size of the outbreak wasn't immediately known. A lockdown has been imposed to try to control the spread of the virus.
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Alarmed by what it sees as China's economic coercion and the declining competitiveness of its own firms, Japan is enacting a raft of economic security policies.
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South Korea is the world's sixth-largest arms exporter and Ukraine has turned to it for help in its war against Russia. But so far, Seoul has only agreed to provide non-lethal aid.
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South Korea was among the first Asian nations to sanction Russia, but it faces conflicting political and economic interests.
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The missile that North Korea tested this week could potentially be equipped with nuclear warheads and reach the continental U.S., experts say.
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Experts say the North is applying pressure on Washington over a deepening freeze in nuclear negotiations. The White House condemned North Korea for its latest test of a long-range ballistic missile.
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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. -
Russia on Monday pulled out of stalled peace talks with Japan, in response to Japanese sanctions. Japan is following other countries' lead in sanctioning Russia and helping Ukraine.
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Japan is assessing the damage from a powerful earthquake that struck the country's northeast Wednesday, killing at least four people. The magnitude 7.4 quake hit at 11:36 p.m. local time.
