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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To the surprise of many observers, Tillerson referred to a mutual U.S.-China understanding of "non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation." -
Indonesia is the world's fourth-largest coffee producer, exporting more than it consumes. But that's changing, as demand from a rising middle class fuels entrepreneurship and connoisseurship. -
China is debating how to react to the death of Kim Jong Nam, half-brother of North Korea's leader. Some think that the dead man could potentially have headed a more China-friendly North Korean regime. -
President Trump has suggested the U.S. could use the policy as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations. China says the policy is non-negotiable, and Trump appears to have backed down. -
China has returned a U.S. Navy drone it confiscated last week in the South China Sea. Some see the incident as part of a larger Chinese effort to gradually erode U.S. strategic dominance in Asia. -
The case against Jakarta's Christian, ethnic Chinese governor has raised serious concerns about religious and ethnic tolerance in a country that claims to be the Muslim world's most moderate. -
A week after China said it was cracking down on sales of ivory, the national carrier, Air China, said it would no longer allow shark fins to be transported as cargo on its flights. -
Lei Yang, 28, died after a confrontation with police in May. Fellow college graduates are speaking out now that authorities have decided not to prosecute the police involved.
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A grieving mother fought for more than 20 years to clear her son's name after his wrongful conviction. Miscarriages of justice are rarely reversed in China and this is seen as a landmark case. -
The new telescope will help discover new galaxies and will observe the hydrogen clouds from which stars and planets are born. But not everyone's happy. 9,000 locals were displaced to make room for it.
