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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

Japan’s Takaichi wins last-minute coalition partner ahead of Tuesday’s election for premier

Japan's Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi, 64, looks set - finally - to be voted in as the country's first-ever female prime minister Tuesday after securing a last-minute partnership with an opposition party.

October 20, 2025

How K-pop and Christianity have managed to punch holes through North Korea’s information wall

North Koreans living in the authoritarian state have little access to the world, but despite the government's iron-fisted control over information, leader Kim Jong-un's information wall is consistently breached by two powerful outside cultural forces: K-pop and Christianity.

October 15, 2025

Japan’s ruling coalition implodes days before prime minister vote

Japan lurched toward political uncertainty Friday as the newly elected leader of its ruling party lost the support of her coalition partner, just days before the parliament is set to vote on the country's next prime minister.

October 10, 2025

Despite massive military might, Kim Jong-un is caught in his own trap

North Korea has been celebrating the 80th anniversary of the foundation of its ruling Korean Workers' Party with a roster of global VIP guests and an after-dark parade of military might.

October 10, 2025

Is Jong-un North Korea’s most successful Kim?

It's good to be Kim, and as dictators go, Kim Jong-un is arguably sitting prettier today than either his father Kim Jong-il or grandfather Kim Il-sung ever did.

October 9, 2025

Incoming Japanese prime minister faces potential coalition break-up before election

Newly elected Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday unveiled her party leadership team as questions swirl around the future of the LDP's parliamentary coalition and lawmakers gear up for a vote to confirm her as prime minister.

October 7, 2025

Conservative Sanae Takaichi poised to be Japan’s first female prime minister

Sanae Takaichi, having won the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Saturday, looks set to become the first-ever female prime minister of Japan, America's leading Indo-Pacific ally.

October 4, 2025

Hopes rise for North Korea breakthrough as Trump, Xi head to South Korea in October

Hopes are rising in South Korea, particularly inside President Lee Jae-myung's administration, that North Korea will be on the agenda when President Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea this month.

October 3, 2025

Seoul’s assault on churches mired in revenge politics, judicial aggression, murky allegations

Seoul-Washington ties are under pressure. Both are polarized between conservatives and liberals, with presidents from different sides of the aisle in power on different sides of the Pacific.

September 30, 2025

Race to be next Japanese leader pits U.S.-educated political scion against female hawk

Two front-runners have emerged in the race to be Japan's next prime minister: the comparatively youthful scion of a political dynasty and a foreign policy hawk who could become the first woman to lead the country.

September 26, 2025

Seoul rings alarm bells over Kim’s expanding nuclear arsenal

Seoul's point man on North Korea warned Thursday that Pyongyang possesses enough fissile material for potentially hundreds of nuclear devices and has plans for more.

September 25, 2025

Religious freedom advocates condemn South Korean arrest of Family Federation head

South Korea's arrest of Hak Ja Han Moon has drawn condemnation from the conservative religious leader's supporters around the world and raised concerns that the Asian democracy's recently-installed liberal president is overseeing a purge of his party's political opponents.

September 23, 2025

South Korea simmers in aftermath of worker arrests in Georgia

South Korea's top diplomat was heavily diplomatic Friday but admitted that the issues currently dividing Seoul and Washington are "very serious."

September 19, 2025

Korean prosecutors seek arrest of octogenarian head of Family Federation

The leader of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification is facing arrest in South Korea amid an ever-expanding bribery probe into people and organizations linked to imprisoned ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol.

September 18, 2025

Does U.S. need Euro-Atlantic allies to help defend the Indo-Pacific?

Addressing U.S. President Trump Wednesday during his state visit to the U.K., King Charles III said, "Our AUKUS submarine partnership with Australia sets the benchmark for innovative and vital collaboration."

September 18, 2025

Philippine and Chinese forces clash in latest confrontation at shoal in South China Sea

A Philippine coast guard vessel was accused of ramming a Chinese ship Tuesday in a confrontation over a territory dispute in the South China Sea, the latest incident in a fast-moving series of developments involving Beijing, Manila and Washington.

September 16, 2025

Could a perfect storm of controversies reignite South Korean anti-Americanism?

A combination of public shock at the treatment of South Korean workers in a Georgia immigration raid, legal measures taken by former sex workers for U.S. troops in Korea and uneven U.S. tariffs on Korean and Japanese autos is generating concern about a possible resurrection of mass anti-Americanism.

September 12, 2025

After Xi’s parade, Trump must reengage with Asia to overturn perception of U.S. ‘chaos,’ say experts

In the wake of Chinese President Xi Jinping's reception of world leaders at a military parade last week, the U.S. needs to reengage with the Indo-Pacific via top-level visits and diplomatic engagement, while addressing concerns generated by tariffs and "America First" rhetoric, top analysts said Thursday.

September 11, 2025

Japanese prime minister announces resignation after losses fracture party support

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced his resignation Sunday, clearing the way for a leadership contest within his ruling, but wobbly, Liberal Democratic Party.

September 7, 2025

‘Golden age’ dawns on once-isolated Kim Jong-un

Kim Jong-un's global prestige received a massive boost from his prominent profile in Beijing Wednesday, prompting experts to say North Korea's widely derided leader is enjoying new relevance.

September 6, 2025

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