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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For the next two weeks, U.S. military personnel will be confined to their bases. Japan's government last week demanded the U.S. impose stricter measures to stem a surge in COVID-19 cases.
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The potential upgrade at a U.S. air defense base, within range of missiles in North Korea and China, has residents concerned as Seoul walks a delicate balancing act between the rival powers. -
Plans to upgrade U.S. missile defenses in South Korea have residents worried, and could complicate relations between South Korea and its neighbors.
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The World Health Organization predicts "a tsunami of cases" as the omicron variant fuels a surge of COVID infections. More than a million cases a being reported globally every day around the world.
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One of the keys to understanding present day China is grasping its past. Yale University historian Jonathan Spence helped many people to understand this vast field.
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COVID cases in Japan fell more than 99% from the last peak. Unlike previous infection waves, and countries in similar situations, it's largely staying there. Experts are struggling to explain why.
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The turnaround came in the wake of a fifth wave of infections that peaked in August. Japan is trying to figure out why its COVID-19 case numbers and fatalities have plummeted.
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The White House is enlisting allies in its efforts to rebuild U.S. manufacturing capacity in the high-tech sector. South Korean semiconductor makers are playing along, but with some misgivings.
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The ultraviolent scenario is made up, but there are economic themes in the hit Netflix survival drama that are all too real in South Korea.
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Japan heads to the polls soon, and the ruling party is counting on low turnout from apathetic young voters and independents in order to hang onto its parliamentary majority.
