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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South Koreans in their 20s and 30s make up a third of voters, and candidates want to win them over. Many young voters are over the folks in power, a lot of whom are from an older activist generation. -
The ultraviolent scenario is made up, but there are economic themes in the hit Netflix survival drama that are all too real in South Korea.
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Women's equality has made slow progress in South Korea. Some South Koreans want to bring about change starting at the country's cultural roots by reinterpreting Confucius. -
North Korea is trying to purge foreign cultural influences, including South Korean variations on the language that the two countries share. Experts say controlling language is an uphill battle. -
Tokyo 2020 aims to be the most environmentally friendly games, offsetting carbon emissions and using sustainable materials. But some environmental groups say the symbolism exaggerates the reality. -
Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo has died from cancer at age 61. He was serving a jail term for trying to overthrow China's government.
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Despite Tokyo's assurances that it will not pose a threat to people or the environment, the decision has been criticized by the local fishing community, environmental groups and Japan's neighbors. -
Antony Blinken met with local journalists when he was in Seoul and Tokyo. Judging from local press reaction, U.S. allies in Asia generally see Blinken's visit as a good start to bolstering relations.
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The trip showed different policy approaches between the U.S. and allies such as South Korea and Japan to two big issues: North Korea's growing nuclear arsenal and China's growing assertiveness.
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The first Cabinet-level trip abroad of the Biden administration is squarely focused on the challenge presented by China to U.S. primacy. Blinken will also meet with his Chinese counterpart in Alaska.
