Elise Hu

In NPR's Elise Tries series, correspondent Elise Hu tests out new experiences in East Asia. In this episode: pore vacuuming, a hot trend in Korean beauty. A suction pen excavates grime from your face.

In NPR's Elise Tries series, correspondent Elise Hu tests out new experiences in East Asia. In this inaugural episode, she visits a South Korean animal cafe. Things don't go as smoothly as planned.

This marks North Korea's fourth attempted launch of the year. The third failed. The last successful attempt was on March 6, when North Korea fired four missiles at the same time into the same waters.

Researchers say the belief some South Koreans hold that North Koreans — who are the same ethnicity as South Koreans — are beast-like is a product of years of propaganda and misleading education.

The court granted prosecutors' request to hold Park, who was removed from office earlier this month. A Seoul court issued the warrant early Friday local time, hours after she appeared for questioning.

If approved, the warrant would arrest Park in connection with the corruption scandal that's gripped the nation for months. But prosecutors argue that the evidence could be destroyed in the meantime.

The secretary of state didn't cut short his South Korea stay over the weekend, but an information vacuum meant a lot of people thought he did.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said during his visit to South Korea "all options are on the table" when it comes to dealing with North Korea. On Saturday, Tillerson met with Chinese officials.

As the new secretary of state starts a six-day sweep through East Asia, he heads into a region full of challenges, both old and new.

President Park Geun-hye is out, after a historic decision to remove her. But big questions loom for a Northeast Asia region where relationships are tense.

Two people are dead in demonstrations following a historic ruling in South Korea to oust President Park Geun-hye.

The country's first female president makes history again, this time, as the first South Korean leader to be removed from office.

The THAAD missile defense system will go up in South Korea to help defend against North Korea's missile program. But it's causing a geopolitical tussle.

The projectiles were launched Sunday from near North Korea's missile base of Tongchang-ri, says South Korea's military. At least one of the missiles flew about 620 miles.

Malaysian police said VX nerve agent — classified as a weapon of mass destruction — was found on Kim Jong Nam's body. South Korea says North Korea ordered the hit.

Malaysian investigators have named four more suspects in connection to the bizarre poisoning death of the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Malaysian police say they have detained two women in the death of Kim Jong Nam, the eldest of Kim Jong Il's children. He died after a suspicious encounter reportedly caught on video in the airport.

"It probably is the strangest story that I have encountered about North Korean elites and the Kim family," says Michael Madden, who runs the site North Korea Leadership Watch.

Pyongyang again defied United Nations resolutions and test-fired a missile early Sunday morning, local time. It earned a swift rebuke from neighbors.

After President Trump's taunts about Toyota and Japanese currency, Japan's prime minister arrives for talks in which he's expected to propose billions in infrastructure investment in the U.S.