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Andrew Salmon

Seoul, South Korea-based Andrew Salmon, Asia Editor at The Washington Times. brings two decades of journalistic experience to the position. Before joining The Washington Times, he was Northeast Asia Editor of Hong Kong-based Asia Times. Andrew’s reporting previously appeared in The Daily Telegraph, Forbes, The International Herald Tribune, The South China Morning Post, The Times and The Washington Times. He has made television appearances on Arirang TV, CNN and France24. He can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Andrew Salmon

Defector’s fate unsettled after North Korea confirms detention

His status has been confirmed but his future remains a huge question mark one day after North Korea's state media revealed that defecting U.S. Army Pvt. Travis King was alive and being detained.

August 16, 2023

Japan struggles to match rhetoric, policy on defending Taiwan

On perhaps the burning foreign policy question of the day -- What would Japan do in the event of a Chinese military move against Taiwan? -- the rhetoric and the reality remain far apart in Tokyo.

August 11, 2023

In shift, North Korea’s Kim calls for ‘offensive’ military posture

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has shaken up his senior military command and announced the need to step up "the war preparations of the [North Korean armed forces] in an offensive way."

August 10, 2023

N. Korea’s warm welcome wins support of isolated regime; Russian public pressured to accept new ally

Moscow is shifting its focus toward developing nations, including nuclear-armed North Korea, as the U.S. and much of the rest of the developed world shun Russia because of the carnage in Ukraine.

August 7, 2023

South Korea scrambles as global Scout gathering swelters in ‘heat trap’

Scouts are known for their hardiness, but the tens of thousands of attendees at the 25th World Jamboree in South Korea are having their vigor challenged to the max by a combination of faltering facilities, swarming bugs, a climatic "heat trap" and searing temperatures currently plaguing the peninsula.

August 4, 2023

Russia sends SOS with ‘Victory Day’ visit, casts aside reputation to get support for war in Ukraine

A rare trip by Russia's defense minister to North Korea last week is not a sign of a flourishing alliance but the latest indication of the Kremlin's mounting desperation over the course of its war in Ukraine, U.S. officials say.

August 2, 2023

Jokey ‘Barbenheimer’ references offend a conflicted Japan

As U.S. audiences flock to summer blockbusters "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer," memes that conflate the two movies have caused angst in Japan, the only nation on earth to suffer atomic bombings.

August 1, 2023

Divided peninsula, divided commemorations for Korean War’s 70th anniversary

The 70th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War was commemorated on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone on Thursday, but the deep divisions on the peninsula were evident in the very different ways North and South Korea marked the milestone.

July 27, 2023

Seventy years on, North Korea tells its own story of a war and its aftermath

North Korea ended the 1950-1953 Korean conflict bombed to smithereens, its land scattered with countless dead, and its key war aim -- the unification of the peninsula under its leader, Kim Il-sung -- thwarted by the U.S. military and its allies.

July 26, 2023

U.N. command, North Korea have first contact on defecting American GI Travis King

A senior officer with the UN Command said Monday officials have made their first contact with North Korea over the status of a deserting American soldier who dashed across the border into the North last week.

July 24, 2023

Russia, China shun like-minded North Korea from anti-U.S. war games

While Chinese and Russian warships conduct joint drills in what looks like a counter to tightening cooperation between the United States and its Indo-Pacific allies, North Korea's forces remain back at the base.

July 21, 2023

GIs who defected to North Korea offer dicey precedent for latest U.S. soldier who went AWOL

History is not exactly reassuring for Travis King, the American GI who bolted across the heavily guarded border into North Korea on Tuesday.

July 19, 2023

U.S. soldier who crossed border into North Korea was reportedly facing discipline action in America

An American soldier reportedly facing disciplinary action on Tuesday fled into North Korea and is now in the custody of the Pyongyang regime, U.S. military officials said Tuesday.

July 18, 2023

China and Russia feel blowback as NATO embraces Asia-Pacific allies

Watching Asia-Pacific leaders mingle with their European counterparts at the annual NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, U.S. strategists might well have lit up celebratory cigars.

July 13, 2023

North Korea’s new missile tests exposes Kim’s limited options

North Korea test-fired a long-range ballistic missile on Wednesday, its first since the launch of a reconnaissance satellite that failed to reach orbit and splashed into the Yellow Sea on May 31.

July 12, 2023

China fumes as Japan gets big backing for Fukushima nuke wastewater plan

The opposition ranges from the Chinese government to South Korean Buddhism, but Japan cleared a major hurdle to its planned release of wastewater from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant this week after South Korea dropped its long-held opposition to the plan.

July 7, 2023

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