Jason Strother

Reporter Jason Strother is a freelance multimedia journalist who’s reported from both sides of the Korean peninsula since moving to Seoul in 2006.

Reporter Jason Strother is a freelance multimedia journalist who has reported from both sides of the Korean peninsula since moving to Seoul in 2006.

He makes frequent work trips around Asia and has also filed from Brazil. 

He got his start in the business as a producer at a 24-hour cable news channel in the Bronx, but always wanted the life of a foreign correspondent.  

He is also an adjunct professor of journalism at Montclair State University in his home state of New Jersey. 

Sea-level rise and storms made stronger by climate change threaten communities across coastal Bangladesh.

‘They forgot about me’: People with disabilities in Bangladesh face increased risk during natural disasters

Millions of people have migrated from villages in coastal Bangladesh to escape climate-related disasters, but people with disabilities often stay behind. This puts their lives in even greater danger as weather conditions become more severe, advocates say.

‘They forgot about me’: People with disabilities in Bangladesh face increased risk during natural disasters
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, Kim Jong-un speaks in a conference with chief secretaries of the city and county party committees in Pyongyang, North Korea, Saturday, March 6, 2020. 

North Korea to reopen its borders for the coronavirus vaccine

North Korea to reopen its borders for the coronavirus vaccine
Kim Ju-won (left) and Park Sun-min (right) say same-sex couples are excluded from incentives to start families. 

South Korea’s baby boost for married couples excludes nontraditional families

South Korea’s baby boost for married couples excludes nontraditional families
 Baek Jae-wook is a teenager with an autistic spectrum disorder and earned barista certifications from the Jayeondo Cafe in Incheon.

South Korean activists renew call for deinstitutionalizing people with disabilities amid coronavirus

South Korean activists renew call for deinstitutionalizing people with disabilities amid coronavirus
A worker dressed in white protective gear disinfects as a precaution against the coronavirus at a café in Goyang, South Korea, Aug. 25, 2020.  

To quell COVID-19 outbreak, South Korea bans seating at big cafés

To quell COVID-19 outbreak, South Korea bans seating at big cafés
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, with a white suit and black flat-top hair style, speaks at a conference table.

Typhoon Bavi strikes North Korea amid pandemic lockdown 

Pyongyang has closed its borders, preventing aid groups from entering the country. Now, the regime’s ability to effectively respond to the disaster could be curtailed due to the absence of such organizations.   

Typhoon Bavi strikes North Korea amid pandemic lockdown 
A church with two steeples with green tips in the distance

South Koreans are blaming a controversial church for new COVID-19 outbreak

Health authorities say Sarang Jaeil Church and its outspoken pastor are at the epicenter of South Korea’s second-largest COVID-19 outbreak since the pandemic started. About 3,400 of the church’s members have been tested and about 20% have contracted the coronavirus as of Thursday.

South Koreans are blaming a controversial church for new COVID-19 outbreak
Hong Seo-yoon says travel is a great way to bring down barriers between people with disabilities and the nondisabled.

Bringing down barriers for travelers with disabilities in Korea

A South Korean globe-trotter and wheelchair user advocates for more accessible tourism.

Bringing down barriers for travelers with disabilities in Korea
Mayor Park Won-soon speaks during an event at Seoul City Hall in Seoul, South Korea, July 8, 2020.

Seoul mayor’s progressive legacy called into question after his death

South Koreans are mourning the death of Park Won-soon, a prominent liberal politician and presidential hopeful. But the Seoul mayor’s apparent suicide coincides with reports that he was under investigation for sexual harassment.

Seoul mayor’s progressive legacy called into question after his death
A woman and a man hold signs and candles lit up in the dark outside

How violent protests in South Korea became a thing of the past

Protests in South Korea were once characterized by intense, often violent confrontations between protesters and police. Today, those kinds of fierce standoffs in the country seem to be a thing of the past.

How violent protests in South Korea became a thing of the past
Protesters in Seoul rallied in support of the Black Lives Matter Movement on June 6,

America’s BLM protests find solidarity in South Korea

On Saturday, around 100 demonstrators walked through downtown Seoul in protest of the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in what was perhaps the first showing of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the nation.

America’s BLM protests find solidarity in South Korea
Quarantine worker spray disinfectants at a night club on the night spots in the Itaewon neighborhood, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Seoul, South Korea, May 12, 2020.

South Korea’s coronavirus contact tracing puts LGBTQ community under surveillance, critics say

Health officials gain access to the cellphone GPS records, credit card transactions and transportation history of anyone who tests positive for COVID-19, and then they release much of that information to the public. Many in country's LGBTQ community say they feel singled out.

South Korea’s coronavirus contact tracing puts LGBTQ community under surveillance, critics say
A teacher gives an online class at school, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Seoul, South Korea, April 9, 2020. 

South Korean high school seniors are eager to return to the classroom

South Korean high school seniors will be the first students to return to the classroom after the coronavirus delayed the start of the academic year. For many, the pandemic didn’t just disrupt their education; it cast their entire futures into uncertainty. 

South Korean high school seniors are eager to return to the classroom
A woman feeds her child as they prepare to watch a movie from their car at a temporary made drive-in theater while keeping social distancing following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Seoul, South Korea, March 27, 2020.

South Korean movie fans watch the big screen from behind their windshields  

Despite the box office slump during the pandemic, South Korea’s drive-in theaters have experienced a recent surge in customers.

South Korean movie fans watch the big screen from behind their windshields  
Voters line up to cast ballots outside in South Korea

Millions of South Korean voters head to the polls amid COVID-19 pandemic

On election day, at least 29 million South Koreans lined-up at polling places to cast ballots. Quarantine restrictions were temporarily lifted and polling stations were kept open to allow some 13,000 recent returnees to briefly leave their homes and vote.

Millions of South Korean voters head to the polls amid COVID-19 pandemic