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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After tracking him for nearly a decade, Nate Thayer became the last Western correspondent to interview the murderous Khmer Rouge leader. Thayer died at his home in Falmouth, Mass., at age 62. -
The policy change is widely seen as a major step toward rearming Japan more than seven decades after its demilitarization after World War II. -
People in South Korea all became at least one year younger on Wednesday, as the country dropped a traditional method of counting their ages. Under the old system, a person was one year old at birth. -
Wednesday's launches marked the first time a North Korean missile had flown over the de facto maritime border separating the two Koreas since the Korean War ended in an armistice in 1953. -
South Korean officials say at least 26 foreign nationals were among the more than 150 people killed in the incident in Seoul's Itaewon district. Many were young adults celebrating Halloween. -
Dozens more were injured, officials said, after a stampede took place in a narrow alley near a major party spot on Saturday night in the South Korean capital. -
The Japanese government has given Ukrainians residency and work permits for up to a year. But for those from other countries, it can be a years-long struggle to attain similar benefits and privileges. -
North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Tuesday that flew over Japan for the first time in five years, the South Korean government said, triggering alerts across Japan. -
Japan's former leader Shinzo Abe was honored at a rare and divisive state funeral Tuesday that deeply split public opinion and drew angry protests. -
Korean cold noodles, or naengmyeon, are a treat enjoyed in both Koreas. One North Korean restaurant owner is reaping the rewards of this fact with the launch of a restaurant in Seoul.
