
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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Torrential rains have left many people dead or missing in and around South Korea's capital. President Yoon Suk-yeol says they must prepare for more extreme weather resulting from climate change.
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Both the U.S. and China stepped up military activity in the region ahead of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit. Here's what is different now from crises in the Taiwan Strait decades ago.
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Japan's longest serving prime minister is being laid to rest in Tokyo today in a private family service. The country is still struggling to recover from the shock of his assassination.
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The ruling party in Japan, to which the slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also belonged, is expected to dominate legislative elections there today.
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Japan is shocked and in mourning following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday. Police say a homemade gun was used.
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Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated during a campaign appearance on behalf of his former party. A suspected gunman is in custody.
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Police arrested the suspected gunman at the scene of an attack that shocked many in Japan, which is one of the world's safest nations and has some of the strictest gun control laws anywhere.
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Japan is sweltering amid a heatwave not seen in decades. As the country deals with an energy crunch, businesses are trying to save energy by turning lights down and thermostats up.
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A Japanese court dealt a blow to LGBTQ rights when it upheld a ban on same-sex marriage. Japan is only member of the Group of Seven major industrial nations that does not recognize same-sex unions.
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Some fans say they can relate to the artists' need to pause. For Korean stars, "in exchange for a chance at worldwide fame, they give up a lot of control over their own life," a K-pop expert says.