Elise Hu

The film's themes reflect the strains of modern Korea: distrust of government and institutions, disdain for corporate leaders and a sense everyone's in it for themselves.

Even as China presses ahead with a military buildup in the South China Sea, the U.S. invited it to take part in the world's largest naval exercise at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

Defections appear to be on the rise, but it's difficult to tell what that means about relations between North and South — or the stability of Kim Jong Un's regime.

In a mountain town, schoolboys in traditional loincloths keep up a 300-year tradition. The hadaka matsuri festivals, rooted in Shinto tradition, take place to bring purification, luck and prosperity.

Emperor Akihito said his age and poor health could make the performance of his duties impossible. But Japanese law doesn't allow for the emperor to step down.

Female K-pop performers can face strong pressure to meet the industry's beauty standards. Some, like Park Boram, are starting to sing about it, while others are bucking the trend.

It's cute ... but is it too much cultural pressure?

Twelve officers were shot Thursday night, and five died. Officials say the attack was carried out by Micah Xavier Johnson, a military veteran who was killed by a police explosive.

Gunmen attacked the officers at the end of Thursday's rally against police shootings of black men earlier this week. Three suspects are in custody and one is dead after a standoff in a parking garage.

Recent cases of murder and gang rape have led to new measures boosting security and support for victims of sexual assault. Women's rights advocates say attitudes are what really need to change.

The world's third largest economy is still struggling to gain traction under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The British decision to leave the European Union has delivered another blow.

One of the two midrange ballistic missiles launched Wednesday appears to be the most successful test yet.

On a beach resort in southern South Korea, the government sponsors camps each year where kids as young as 11 are taught about North Koreans, to prepare for a peaceful "reunification" — one day.

Ancient Chinese poetry and quick metaphors are the go-to rhetorical aids in the latest meet-up between American and Chinese counterparts.

They are the two largest economies in the world, and increasingly interdependent. But as leaders gather for high-level talks in Beijing, tensions have flared on several fronts.

South Korea likes to point the finger at China for its pollution woes, but that's not the whole story. New research is examining how much Korean smog is caused by neighbors and how much is home-grown.

NPR looks at the significance of President Obama's visit to Hiroshima at the conclusion of his last trip to Japan as president. It was the first visit by a sitting U.S. president since an American warplane bombed the city during World War II.

Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to visit the city destroyed by an American atomic bomb in the closing days of World War II.

Following a gruesome killing, allegedly by a former Marine, controversy over the presence of American troops on Okinawa is adding another layer to Obama's historic trip this week.

"Wongok Village is what Korea will look like in the future," says a grade school teacher in a self-styled "borderless village" south of Seoul, where most of the residents are non-Korean.