New Asia Editor for Business Desk

Pui-Wing and I have forever thought that Dai Wakabayashi would make a great editor and for years we have been trying to convince him that we are right. So….

We're thrilled to announce that Dai Wakabayashi will become our new Asia business editor based in Seoul. In his new role, Dai will oversee our business, economics and technology coverage throughout the region, including China. Dai will report to Rich Barbieri, who is moving from Seoul to London to be international business editor.

Dai moved to Seoul in 2022 with a broad mandate to write about business and economics in Asia. He previously was a tech reporter in our San Francisco bureau, covering Google. Prior to joining The Times in 2016, Dai worked at The Wall Street Journal, reporting from the United States and Japan. In 2011 he was covering Japanese technology in Tokyo when the country was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami. He spent the next year covering the Fukushima disaster and won the Society of Publishers in Asia's journalist of the year award for that work. Dai started his journalism career at Reuters, reporting from Tokyo, Seattle and Boston.

In Seoul, Dai has focused on the Chinese economy, trade and other business topics. His tenure has been notable for the range of his work. Last year he wrote about South Korea's journey to becoming a global beauty product power, China's never-ending real estate crisis , the effect of tariffs on small businesses , the dramatic fight between two prominent Korean families over control of the world's largest producer of zinc, and why your cat's food may no longer come from Thailand.

Dai's 2023 investigation of construction delays and corruption at a major airport in Nepal has resulted in a local investigation and charges against government officials and executives of a major state-owned construction firm in China. And his 2018 investigation of Google's $90 million exit package for an executive accused of misconduct sparked a backlash from employees and investors.

"Tech companies were often scared if they heard that Dai was reporting on them because he was a fearless digger," says Pui-Wing Tam, our deputy Business editor in charge of tech coverage. "He became a mentor to many other reporters along the way, sharing reporting techniques and advice."

Please join us in congratulating Dai.

- Ellen and Rich