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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The prime minister confirmed Monday that he would issue the declaration that allows governors of hard-hit prefectures to issue stay-at-home directives. -
Due to an impasse over defense cost sharing, the U.S. military has furloughed thousands of Korean employees. The furloughs come as U.S. forces in South Korea grapple with cases of COVID-19 infection. -
Japan has so far avoided the explosion of cases that China and South Korea have seen. The Japan Medical Association has called for declaring an emergency that could lead to a three-week lockdown. -
Japan's prime minister announces Tuesday that the Tokyo Olympics, originally due to start July 24 will be postponed until next summer, at latest.
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Speaking before Parliament, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said: "[W]e may have no choice but to decide to postpone the Games." The Olympics are set to start on July 24. -
Doctors estimate they can do 10 tests an hour — double the number in an indoor clinic. -
As the U.S. manages the coronavirus, NPR's Rachel Martin talks to three NPR correspondents in some hard-hit countries: China, South Korea and Italy, to ask what lessons the U.S. should learn.
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Daegu, the center of South Korea's coronavirus outbreak, tries to figure out an effective way to tackle the disease. -
With 833 cases, the country now says it is on "red alert" and is taking measures to contain the disease. -
The Coronavirus is spreading, and worries are intensifying in three more hot spots: Italy, Iran and South Korea. The World Health Organization says the window to contain it is narrowing.
