Eight-time Emmy Award-winning journalist Mike Valerio is a CNN international correspondent based in Seoul, covering the dynamic array of cultural, political, and military stories within the Korean Peninsula and the wider Asia Pacific region.

Mike began his assignment in Korea along the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone, reporting on the multi-layered provocations from North Korea and heightened military tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang.

His stories capture the tightly woven alliance between the United States and South Korea, including unprecedented access to the US Air Force’s biggest cannon in the sky, as it flew over Korea on an AC-130 Ghostrider gunship.

Mike has also covered the ramifications of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s historic 2024 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as well as renewed diplomatic trilateral ties between China, Japan, and South Korea.

Before joining CNN, Mike served as a political and law enforcement reporter for WUSA9 in Washington, D.C. He has extensively covered the White House, election security, and the Department of Justice, focusing on the FBI, ATF, and domestic terror cases.

Mike’s investigative reporting led to WUSA9’s multi-year documentary series “Fallen and Forgotten.” The series detailed American World War II service members whose remains are still buried on the Pacific atoll of Tarawa, often in abysmal conditions. In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Mike served as the chief researcher for the New York Times best-selling book, “Betrayal: The Life and Lies of Bernie Madoff.”

Mike earned a bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Mass Communication from The George Washington University. He is fluent in French, currently studying Korean, Mandarin and Ukrainian. Valerio also holds commands of Arabic, Japanese, Spanish and Italian.