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.
-
Japan's defeat in World War II "produced in him strong feelings against war and its chaos," says a childhood friend. Akihito has expressed deep remorse at home and abroad for Japan's wartime actions.
-
Akihito, citing failing health, becomes the first Japanese monarch in some two centuries to step down. His reign ends at midnight Tuesday, and then his son, Crown Prince Naruhito, ascends the throne.
-
The summit in Vladivostok marks Kim Jong Un's first trip to Russia and first meeting with the Russian leader. The Kremlin said they would discuss denuclearization.
-
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in person at a bilateral summit in Russia on Thursday, as U.S.-North Korea nuclear talks remain at a stalemate.
-
The North Korean leader shunted aside a pair of long-serving senior officials and seated a newly elected parliament. The move is thought to be aimed at helping Kim ride out U.S. sanctions.
-
Japan's military reported on Tuesday that it lost an F-35 stealth jet off the coast of Japan, in the Pacific. Pieces of the plane have been located and a search for the pilot is ongoing.
-
More than a month ago, there was a raid on North Korea's embassy in Spain. An obscure group claimed responsibility for the break-in and declared a revolution against the North Korean government.
-
The group's leader is "less like the leader of a civic group, and more like a soldier on a battlefield, bold and combative," says a defector who has worked with him. "He's a very charismatic leader."
-
A North Korean official says the U.S. missed a golden opportunity at the recent summit in Vietnam, and that Kim Jong Un will soon decide whether to pull out of nuclear negotiations with the U.S.
-
Just days after the U.S.-North Korea summit ended in a stalemate, satellite images show workers have been active at a partially disassembled missile test facility.