Michelle Ye Hee Lee
@myhlee.bsky.social
Covering Asia at The Washington Post. Mom to two needy cats & a rambunctious golden retriever. michelle.lee@washpost.com
The Post gained access to two of North Korea’s latest smartphones, which offer a remarkable window into daily life in one of the most reclusive countries. They show how digital life has become yet another layer of government control:
See what it’s like to use a North Korean smartphone under Kim Jong Un
North Koreans are banking, getting makeup tutorials and using period trackers on their phones. But under Kim, these digital comforts are also tools of control.
washingtonpost.com
North Koreans are banking, getting makeup tutorials and using period trackers on their smartphones. But these digital comforts are also tools of control by the regime. See what it’s like to use a North Korean smartphone under Kim Jong Un: (gift link) wapo.st/44QYbfF
Breaking news: Lindsey Graham, a longtime Republican senator from South Carolina, died Saturday night, his office said in a statement. https://wapo.st/4y8CdCe
"The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects." www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/b...
Times Journalists Subpoenaed as Trump Escalates Pressure on Media
The Justice Department is seeking to compel testimony from reporters who wrote about the new Air Force One. The Times called the move a “brazen act.”
nytimes.com
The Japanese get the least sleep of all major countries, so much so that there’s a thriving "sleep tech" market to help people fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Our multimedia story on Japan’s billion-dollar quest to help a sleep-starved nation rest: (gift link) wapo.st/3QBBo3S
Inside Japan’s billion-dollar quest to help a sleep-starved nation rest
From puffer jackets designed for power naps to homes that auto-adjust lighting and temperature, better sleep in Japan is a booming market.
wapo.st
Watch here: www.youtube.com/live/dx2Osd5...
What Xi Got in Pyongyang | The Capital Cable #136
YouTube video by Center for Strategic & International Studies
youtube.com
CSIS Korea Chair@korea.csis.org · 2mo ago📺 LIVE NOW: What Xi Got in Pyongyang Xi's trip last week to Pyongyang produced warm readouts, but skipped denuclearization What does this signal? @csis.org Mark Lippert discusses with @victordcha.bsky.social, @wsj.com Jonathan Cheng, and @washingtonpost.com @myhlee.bsky.social 🔗 shorturl.at/cCF9E
📺 TOMORROW: What Xi Got in Pyongyang Xi's recent trip to Pyongyang produced warm readouts, but skipped denuclearization. What does this signal? @csis.org Mark Lippert discusses with @victordcha.bsky.social, @wsj.com Jonathan Cheng, and @washingtonpost.com @myhlee.bsky.social. 🔗 shorturl.at/cCF9E
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will make a rare trip to North Korea next week to meet with Kim Jong Un, Xi’s first such trip in seven years and a major opportunity for Kim to show Washington that he has powerful friends, even if he is shunned by the West. Gift link: wapo.st/4a1wAeX
Xi to visit North Korea, showing China’s importance to a nuclear-armed neighbor
The summit comes as China positions itself as a global power player projecting stability in contrast to the U.S.'s economically damaging war against Iran and erratic tariff policies.
wapo.st
China and North Korea have both announced Xi Jinping will visit Pyongyang on June 8-9. It would be Xi’s first trip there since 2019. And a big deal for Kim Jong Un as he flexes his diplomatic muscles to show he has powerful friends even without engaging the U.S.
How young Chinese are learning the truth about Tiananmen Square, despite censorship. Important read from our reporter Huiyee Chiew in Taipei: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...
Despite censorship, young Chinese are learning the truth about Tiananmen Square
Authorities have been largely successful at erasing the massacre of protesters who fought for democratic reforms, but the facts are emerging in often unexpected ways.
washingtonpost.com
Vermeer’s Girl With The Pearl Earring will be shown in Osaka, later this year, and the press conference was as Japanese as you’d expect #Vermeer
As China shows greater willingness to strong-arm its neighbors & President Trump injects waves of unpredictability into global affairs, Japan and South Korea are banding together as smaller nations redraw the geostrategic balance in Asia despite their complicated history. Gift link: wapo.st/3Ppzp2l
U.S. allies in Asia are trying to shield themselves from Trump’s unpredictability
President Donald Trump’s seeming ambivalence about the value of allies has created a sense of urgency among nations with close U.S. ties.
wapo.st
Sports events have often been used as a vehicle for diplomatic exchanges between the Koreas, which have been separated since a 1953 armistice halted the Korean War and divided the peninsula. In a recent match-up, players from North Korea remained stone-faced — until they won.
In rare clash, North Korea defeats South Korea … on the soccer field
In an inter-peninsula match-up between women's teams that showed the limits of sports diplomacy, players from North Korea remained stone-faced — until they won.
washingtonpost.com
A North Korean women's club soccer team visited the South for the 1st time this week, raising hopes for a powerful moment of inter-Korean sports diplomacy. But with inter-Korean relations at a low point, the North's message was clear: They're not interested. Gift link: wapo.st/4wGH2lF
In rare clash, North Korea defeats South Korea … on the soccer field
In an inter-peninsula match-up between women's teams that showed the limits of sports diplomacy, players from North Korea remained stone-faced — until they won.
wapo.st
Thanks to Chosun ALC, RAND and @korea.csis.org for having me as a moderator again this year for two meaty discussions with some of the best thinkers on Korean issues - on alliance modernization and the challenges facing diplomacy with North Korea.
There were no big breakthroughs but also no blunders, and the summit positioned China's Xi Jinping as a leader at the height of his power seeking global stability. Gift link to our story on a victorious summit for Xi, who projected stability and conceded nothing: wapo.st/42Hv8dv
Xi, in summit victory, projected stability and conceded nothing to Trump
There were no big breakthroughs but also no blunders, and the summit positioned Xi Jinping as a leader at the height of his power seeking global stability.
wapo.st
Team Asia reunion in Taipei for the Trump-Xi summit, and other scenes 🇹🇼
In pageantry and politics, China summit yields Xi Jinping’s goal — equal footing with U.S. Gift link to our story from the final day of Trump-Xi summit wapo.st/4dp3R4h
In pageantry and politics, China summit yields Xi’s goal — equal footing with U.S.
The image of peer superpowers during President Trump’s visit displayed a dynamic that analysts say the Chinese have long sought and Americans had resisted.
wapo.st
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a fierce China critic, was banned in 2020 from entering the country. Chinese officials, however, are using a different transliteration of Rubio’s name, perhaps to allow him to visit without lifting the ban.
Officially, Marco Rubio is still banned from China. So how is he in Beijing?
Chinese officials are using a different transliterated character for the secretary of state's name, perhaps to allow him to visit without lifting a 2020 ban.
washingtonpost.com
Chinese President Xi Jinping warned President Donald Trump on Thursday that “conflicts” could emerge if the two powers mishandle Taiwan, declaring that Beijing’s top priority in talks with the United States is the fate of the contested island long supported militarily by Washington. wapo.st/3P2fCpv
Xi warns Trump that mishandling Taiwan could spark ‘conflicts’
China’s leader made clear his top priority is the fate of the contested island and its U.S. military support, a striking move given President Donald Trump’s effort to mend ties and deliver trade deals...
wapo.st
A name change in Chinese characters may have allowed Secretary of State Marco Rubio -- a fierce China critic who was banned in 2020 from entering the country -- to visit China as part of President Donald Trump’s entourage. wapo.st/4fl3FFO
Officially, Marco Rubio is still banned from China. So how is he in Beijing?
Chinese officials are using a different transliterated character for the secretary of state's name, perhaps to allow him to visit without lifting a 2020 ban.
wapo.st
“It’s a simple proposition: Whatever our views of the Middle East conflict, we should be able to unite in condemning rape.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/o...
Opinion | The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians
nytimes.com
President Trump will return to China this week for the first time since 2017. Beijing is a far more powerful, confident seat of global power than a decade ago — with a seasoned leader, Xi Jinping, who now understands Trump weaponizes unpredictability.
Confident in China’s power, Xi is ready to host an unpredictable Trump
Holding no illusions about making lasting deals at this week’s summit, China’s leader looks to project Beijing as an alternative to U.S. volatility on the world stage.
washingtonpost.com
Trump will return to a Beijing that is a far more powerful, confident seat of global power than a decade ago — with a seasoned leader, Xi Jinping, who now understands Trump weaponizes unpredictability and holds no illusions about making lasting deals with the U.S. leader. Gift link: wapo.st/4nmmdYs
Confident in China’s power, Xi is ready to host an unpredictable Trump
Holding no illusions about making lasting deals at this week’s summit, China’s leader looks to project Beijing as an alternative to U.S. volatility on the world stage.
wapo.st
Jahi Chikwendiu, a former staff photographer, won for feature photography for two stories following a young family's struggle with terminal cancer. The Post was also a finalist in the national reporting category for its coverage of immigration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Washington Post wins public service Pulitzer for DOGE, federal workforce coverage
It’s the second time The Post has won the prestigious award in five years. Former staff photographer Jahi Chikwendiu also won for feature photography.
wapo.st
The Washington Post won a Pulitzer Prize for public service for coverage of DOGE and the federal workforce. It’s the second time The Post has won the prestigious award in five years. Read more about our winning coverage here: https://wapo.st/3OX3l5A
A detail I didn’t know: “The Herald entered the Epstein series for a Pulitzer Prize that year, but it was not a finalist. Alan Dershowitz … who helped broker Epstein’s original deal, wrote a letter to the Pulitzer committee that year, urging them not to honor Brown’s work.” share.inquirer.com/THMiUZ
Julie K. Brown receives Pulitzer Prize special citation for her work on Jeffrey Epstein case
Brown's 2017 and 2018 reporting was cited at the awards ceremony. “Her work, and the government’s release of the Epstein files, continue to reverberate around the world.”
share.inquirer.com
Stereotypically Jeju weekend: cloudy weather, horses, delicious fish, aged black pork. Also ate lots of tangerines of course.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday announced her country will begin selling lethal weapons abroad, a major shift from a post-World War II pacifist commitment during a time of heightened security concerns in the region. wapo.st/48YduWc
Japan lifts post-World War II ban on lethal weapons exports
The change, which allows Japanese companies to sell arms to 17 countries, is a major shift from the nation’s pacifist stance and comes at a time of heightened security concerns in the region.
wapo.st
