Steve Mollman

One thing about whether economic sanctions will work against North Korea: the experts disagree. North Korea last Sunday conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test, less than a week after sending a ballistic missile over Japan. The regime of…

On June 15, 1991, an otherwise unremarkable mountain in the Philippines blew its top. And with that massive eruption, Mount Pinatubo became an unlikely actor that profoundly shaped today’s South China Sea power contest. Right in the line of fire of…

Few think of North Korea as being a prosperous nation. But it is rich in one regard: mineral resources. Currently North Korea is alarming neighbors with its frequent missile tests, and the US with its attempts to field long-range nuclear missiles…

There’s an undeveloped strip of land on the Korean peninsula where nature thrives, but wild animals occasionally explode. Walking across it would be a bad idea. Known as the demilitarized zone (DMZ), it divides South Korea and North Korea, nations…

Kim Jong-un will likely never be invited to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, but the North Korean leader knows how to make his presence felt there nonetheless. When Trump hosted Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in February, news of a North Korea…

On July 14, Taiwan’s ex-president Ma Ying-jeou held up a bottle of water during a press conference to prove a key point—that 400-meter-wide Itu Aba, the largest feature in the contested Spratly archipelago, is clearly not a rock. The water, sourced…

Tensions are escalating in the South China Sea. On July 12 a UN tribunal will deliver a long-awaited verdict on Beijing’s sweeping claims to the vital waterway. Each year more than $5 trillion in trade passes through the sea, which contains rich…

From fiery Manadonese sambal to slow-cooked mie aceh, T+L offers a three-day guide to eating your way around the archipelago—all in Jakarta.

Kid-friendly tips for Bali, Phuket, Hong Kong, and more.

I can't stop smiling. Never mind the 3 a.m. wake-up call, the rattling ride up the mountain, or the half hour spent shivering in the dark waiting for an everyday occurrence.It's all worth it to see the sun rise over Mt. Bromo, an active volcano in…

Here's a fun exercise: Compare the DNA profiles of random individuals who reside in different regions of the world, have little in common and don't much resemble one another.If you could do this, you'd find close DNA matches once in a while.About…

With a gin and tonic in hand, I settle into a comfortable rattan sofa on the deck of the Orient Pandaw, a 55-meter-long replica of a colonial paddle steamer that carries up to 60 passengers.We're traveling to the Cambodian city of Siem Reap from the…

While some new trains represent alternatives to air travel, speedy and hassle-free, the growing luxury-rail branch has taken a different route entirely: Traveling on one of these trains isn't so much about the getting there as about the…

On a trip to Hanoi a few years ago, Conor Greene, a British expat based in Hong Kong, had his pick of impressive new hotels. Instead he chose one more than a century old: the Metropole.For the 40-year-old managing director of legal…

UBUD, Bali -- "The sunbird is on the nest! Ooh! The sunbird is on the nest!" I heard someone call from up ahead on the trail. At 9 a.m. on a Sunday, I was late for my first bird-watching tour. I'd been jogging for 10 minutes to catch…

When you land in a new place, finding a package bus tour to take you to the usual spots is almost too easy. But all over Asia, there are local guides who can show you something special. The trick is knowing about them.Last November, Terence…

Who says philanthropy and profit can't mix?In a Chinese province near the Tibetan border, two women -- one from Hong Kong, the other from Taiwan -- are helping thousands of yak herders build a better life for their families through a new social…

SEOUL, South Korea -- I really need a shower. I've been licked, nuzzled, nipped at, rubbed against and slobbered on in the past two hours. Yet it's hard to leave the Bau House Cafe, a popular establishment in the bustling Hongik University area of…

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Whack, ouch! Whack, ouch! As instructed, I'm banging my shins against a body-size punching bag that feels more like a block of cement. I glance at my muay thai instructor -- a 20-something fighter with six-pack abs -- but he nods…

If there was a better place to spend their retirement years, Harold and Mary Richards would have found it.The British retirees stepped back and surveyed the globe, drawing upon the years of living abroad that Mr. Richards's career in education had…