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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During more than a half-century as the city-state's leader, Lee helped turn the sleepy British colony into an affluent trading enclave. But he ruled with an iron fist and muzzled critics and rivals. -
Demand for palm oil is destroying the habitat of endangered Sumatran orangutans. One group is working to rescue, rehabilitate and reintroduce these often-orphaned primates back into the wild. -
A prominent journalist with a sick child quit her job and produced an eye-opening look at the consequences of China's air pollution problem. Some 200 million have watched it since the weekend.
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Indonesia's recently elected President Joko Widodo is a heavy metal fan seen as an advocate for human rights and political change. But his strong stance on the death penalty has dismayed many. -
American comics are taking the stage in China's small but growing stand-up comedy circuit. Their bicultural, and often bilingual, shows are a new form of cultural exchange. -
China has drafted its first law specifically against domestic violence. It lays out guidelines for restraining orders and getting the aggressor out of the residence.
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President Xi Jinping consolidated power in a manner not seen since the 1980s, making him China's most powerful leader in a long time. And, he waged an intensive anti-corruption drive.
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An AirAsia plane has disappeared over the Java Sea. The plane took off from Indonesia's second-largest city and was headed to Singapore.
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The government has set up a female lumberjacks program, part of a wider effort to fuel growth after long-term stagnation. But critics say it does little to tackle fundamental problems. -
The woman is suing the government after customs officers confiscated books without telling her why they were banned. The case comes as the country is taking steps to revamp its legal system.
