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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Two years after the oil deal was signed, it collapsed — with the Taliban accusing the Chinese company of breaching the contract and some Chinese employees likening the Taliban's actions to robbery. -
At a summit meeting in Washington, D.C., on Monday, the U.S. and South Korean presidents will discuss modernizing their 71-year-old alliance and fleshing out a trade deal reached last month. -
While atomic bomb survivors warn the catastrophic risks, leaders of nuclear-armed states and self-proclaimed 'realists' argue that the deterrence of nuclear weapons is what keeps them from being deployed. -
The release of WWII-era military documents this year has given a boost to researchers digging into Japan's germ warfare program. Japan's government has never apologized for the atrocities. -
With elections coming in Japan, the threat of U.S. tariffs is forcing its prime minister to start talking tougher, and is getting people to rethink long-held assumptions about relations with the U.S.
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Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth signaled that the U.S. will reorient its policy towards "deterring aggression by communist China."
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At an international forum in Singapore, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. is refocusing its strength and policies on deterring China, and coaxed China's neighbors and U.S. allies to help. -
Chinese consumers have less and less confidence to splurge, which spells trouble for government efforts to jump-start consumer spending to offset deflation and mitigate the trade war with the U.S. -
Some of China's America watchers see opportunities for their country in the United States' retreat from international institutions. Others see distractions and pitfalls. -
The meeting came days after Iran rebuffed President Trump's proposal for nuclear talks. Trump sent a letter calling for Iran to either enter into negotiations or face possible military action.
