Anthony Kuhn

After winning praise for aggressively tackling COVID-19 early on in the pandemic, critics say South Korea's government is breaking its own rules, and is handling a third wave of cases timidly.

South Korean lawmakers say intelligence officials briefed them on the North's tough pandemic rules, including a Pyongyang lockdown and an execution of an official caught breaking restrictions.

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the battle of Chosin Reservoir, a key moment in the Korean War. The war's legacy is felt to this day on the divided Korean peninsula.

Previous spikes in South Korea were linked to outbreaks at churches and protests. Health officials say the current wave appears to have no links to any major groups or events.

President Trump says his "good relationship" with Kim Jong Un is critical to curbing the North Korean nuclear threat. A President Biden will face a country with a bigger nuclear arsenal than in 2016.

The president-elect sought to reassure the leaders of Japan, South Korea and Australia that he will work to renew and strengthen ties.

A scandal involving appointments to a government advisory committee has the government of new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga off to a rocky start. He took office in September.

After four years of a president who challenged the worth of the U.S.-East Asia network of alliances, leaders in the region expect a return to traditional relations.

Japan's government is appealing a landmark court ruling that holds it responsible for failing to prevent the worst nuclear accident in the country's history and orders it to pay damages to victims.

The North Korean leader unveiled what appeared to be an upgraded and enlarged version of the Hwasong-15, an intercontinental ballistic missile thought to be capable of hitting the U.S.

The secretary of state urged Japan, India, Australia and the U.S. to protect against China's "corruption and coercion." The meeting resulted in no major initiatives. Beijing panned it before it began.

South Korea handled the coronavirus crisis well, but mid-pandemic doctors went on strike. Some say their profession is in crisis, with many abandoning essential medicine to go into cosmetic surgery.

South Korea's president sent President Trump a message of "solace and encouragement." A Chinese newspaper editor tweeted that Trump had "paid the price for his gamble to play down the COVID-19."

As the world marks the sad milestone of 1 million lives lost to the coronavirus, NPR's international team reviews the way nations have handled the pandemic.

Pyongyang says an unidentified man was found in North Korean waters and that he murmured he was from South Korea but then stopped responding to soldiers' questions and appeared to try to flee.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he is sorry for the shooting death of a South Korean official. The statement should cool tensions between the two Koreas, leaving room for future diplomacy.

The 47-year-old fisheries official, whose name was not released, apparently jumped off a patrol boat near the maritime border between North and South and floated into North Korean waters.

The former chief Cabinet secretary and government spokesman was sworn in as the country's first new prime minister in almost eight years after Shinzo Abe stepped down citing health concerns.

Yoshihide Suga, 71, was voted in as the country's next leader. Suga was outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's right-hand man, and is generally seen as an uncharismatic technocrat.

As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe steps down, Japan is poised to fulfill his vision of a more assertive military posture with a missile defense system, spurred by President Trump's disdain for allies.