Will Ripley

Senior International Correspondent

Will Ripley is an award-winning Senior International Correspondent for CNN, based in Taipei.
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CNN Digital Expansion 2019 - Will Ripley
CNN Digital Expansion 2019 - Will Ripley

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Daniel Campisi/CNN
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Redevelopment of Tokyo’s historic Meiji Jingu Gaien sparks protests
Oct 03, 2023
Heritage experts, conservationists and residents have all expressed concern over plans to revamp one the Japanese capital’s most beloved parks.
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Primorye Region Administration Press Service
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This is what the train Kim Jong Un is traveling in could look like
Sep 11, 2023
CNN Senior International Correspondent Will Ripley breaks down the ramifications of the anticipated meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kim Jong Un and Vladmir Putin
ED JONES/AFP/Peter Muhly/WPA Pool/Getty Images
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Here’s what Kim may be trying to get from Putin in exchange for munitions
Sep 11, 2023
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to travel to Russia to meet with Vladimir Putin to discuss a potential arms deal. CNN’s Will Ripley reports.
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See the new weapon North Korea may test soon
Aug 17, 2023
CNN’s Will Ripley breaks down new South Korean intelligence that North Korea may be preparing to test a new intercontinental ballistic missile.
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China censors CNN in middle of report on missing foreign minister
Jul 26, 2023
CNN’s signal in China appeared to be censored halfway through CNN’s Will Ripley reporting on the ousting and replacement of China’s foreign minister Qin Gang after a long absence from the public view.
BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 07: China's foreign minister Qin Gang attends a press conference during the First Session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) at Media Center on March 07, 2023 in Beijing, China. Foreign Minister Qin Gang answered questions from Chinese and foreign journalists on China's foreign policy and foreign relations. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
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Speculation on Chinese social media after top minister goes missing from public view
Jul 24, 2023
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang hasn’t been seen in public in weeks, sparking intense speculation. CNN’s Will Ripley reports.
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Getty Images
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This is the last time China’s foreign minister was seen in public
Jul 18, 2023
China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang has not been seen in public for three weeks, an unusually long absence during a busy period of diplomatic activity in Beijing, sparking intense speculation in a country known for its political opaqueness. CNN’s Will Ripley has more.
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Unknown to most, Kim Jong Un’s sister has become the defiant voice against the US
Jul 13, 2023
CNN’s Will Ripley looks at how Kim Yo Jong, sister to Supreme Leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un, has become the voice behind North Korea’s defiance and the mastermind behind the Kim Family brand.
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Chinese Defense Minister blasts the US after near collision on Taiwan strait
Jun 06, 2023
Top American officials hold talks in Beijing to help ease tensions between the U.S. and China after recent military-related incidents. CNN’s Will Ripley reports.
Taiwan's Kinmen islands lie just a few miles from the Chinese port city of Xiamen
John Mees/CNN
A China-Taiwan DMZ? Meet the Kinmen islanders who want a bridge, not a war
Jun 01, 2023
A controversial proposal envisages removing all of Taiwan’s troops and military installations from Kinmen and turning the island into a setting for Beijing-Taipei talks aimed at de-escalating tensions.
BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 1: (CHINA OUT) Security guard walk past the Chinese national flag at the Military Museum of Chinese People's Revolution on March 1, 2008 in Beijing, China. From March 1, the Military Museum of Chinese People's Revolution becomes the first national level museum which opens to the public for free in Beijing. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)
China Photos/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
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Joke about China’s military leads to $2M fine and crackdown on comedy
May 29, 2023
China is escalating it’s crackdown on comedy after a Chinese comedian made a joke about Beijing’s military. CNN’s Will Ripley reports.
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CNN reporters explain one of the most contentious issues of US-China relations
May 16, 2023
CNN correspondents Will Ripley and Selina Wang explain how US-China relations have evolved since 1949, particularly in relation to diplomatic ties with Taiwan and the ‘One China’ policy.
A Chinese civilian ship passing through the waters between mainland China and Kinmen. China has been constructing a new international airport near the border with Kinmen.
John Mees/CNN
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Taiwanese official: It’s ‘basically impossible’ to defend Kinmen against China
May 03, 2023
CNN's Will Ripley is in Kinmen, Taiwan, a small island four miles from China, where some islanders feel like "sitting ducks" at the mercy of China's People's Liberation Army which has launched massive military drills near Taiwan twice in the last nine months.
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Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense
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See ‘scorpion’ drone China used to provoke and encircle Taiwan for the first time
Apr 29, 2023
One of the largest drones in the Chinese military flew around Taiwan for the first time. Chinese state media identifies the drone as "twin-tailed scorpion", capable of high-altitude, long-range missions. CNN's Will Ripley reports.
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China may be one step closer to attacking Taiwan
Apr 13, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for an increase in combat training while visiting military forces, following China's third day of drills in a show of force around Taiwan's coast.
the moment when we boarded the submarine
John Mees/CNN
In the dark depths of the Pacific, US submarines patrol with an eye fixed firmly on China
Apr 06, 2023
Hundreds of feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, cocooned within one of the US Navy's most technologically advanced pieces of equipment, Rear Adm. Jeff Jablon is clear-eyed about the two biggest challenges his team faces.

About

Will Ripley is an award-winning Senior International Correspondent for CNN, based in Taipei.

Ripley has led CNN’s recent coverage of Taiwan, securing an exclusive interview with President Tsai Ing-wen and reporting on the growing tensions between the island and Beijing.

He has also reported extensively on the ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka, securing an exclusive interview with the acting President Wickremesinghe in 2022.

Before moving to Taipei, Ripley was based in Hong Kong. He reported on some of the biggest stories from the region in recent years, including Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, the Tokyo Olympics, the coronavirus pandemic, and the Hong Kong protests.

Before moving to Hong Kong, Ripley was CNN’s Tokyo-based correspondent. He reported on the devastating floods in Joso, the execution of two Japanese ISIS hostages, the deadly eruption of Mt. Ontake and the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster.

A journalist with over 21 years of experience, Ripley has travelled to North Korea 19 times since 2014 — more than any American TV correspondent. He has reported exclusively from Pyongyang after missile launches and nuclear tests and was the only American journalist in North Korea when U.S. prisoner Otto Warmbier was released just days before his death in 2017.

Prior to CNN, Ripley spent nearly 15 years working in newsrooms across the United States. He started as a student news reporter in Connecticut before heading to Missouri, Texas, and Colorado.

Throughout his career, Ripley has won numerous accolades including Best Single News Story at the Asian Academy Creative Awards in 2018 for his reporting on the destruction of the remote Punggye-ri nuclear test site in North Korea. He also received the award for Best Documentary at the Asian Academy Creative Awards for his exclusive CNN documentary Secret State: Inside North Korea.

Ripley has also been recognized with four Regional Edward R. Murrow awards and a Heartland Regional Emmy award. He was honored by the Texas Association of Broadcasters with the Steve Pieringer award for outstanding valor in news coverage.

Ripley grew up in Manchester, Connecticut and graduated from the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia.