Boulder Attack Latest, Ukraine and Russia Talks, South Korea Election

Summary

Up First from NPR – June 3, 2025

In this episode of Up First from NPR, hosts Steve Inskeep and Amy Martinez delve into three pressing news stories shaping the world: a violent attack in Boulder, Colorado; critical peace talks between Ukraine and Russia; and a pivotal presidential election in South Korea. Through in-depth reporting and insightful analysis, the episode provides listeners with a comprehensive understanding of these significant events.

---

1. Boulder Attack: A Year-Long Plan Unveiled

The episode opens with alarming news from Boulder, Colorado, where a 45-year-old Egyptian national, Mohamed Sabri Suleiman, has been arrested for throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators supporting Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Key Details:

• Planning and Motive: Suleiman confessed to planning the attack for a year, specifically timing it to coincide after his high school daughter's graduation strike. He stated his intent to target Zionist individuals, declaring, "I wanted to kill Zionist people and that I'd do it again" (02:05).
• Personal Background: Living in Colorado Springs with his wife and five children, Suleiman's immigration status was precarious. His tourist visa had expired, and his pending asylum request had left him without legal standing in the U.S.
• Law Enforcement Response: Authorities believe Suleiman acted alone, as no prior threats were reported. His rapid arrest was facilitated by swift police response and intervention from bystanders (02:57).

Notable Quotes:

• Allison Sherry (Colorado Public Radio): "He told them he'd been planning the attack for a year and that he told no one about it. He actually waited for his high school daughter's graduation and then did it." (02:55)
• Michael Dougherty (Local DA): Highlighted the series of tragedies Boulder has faced, including fires, floods, and mass attacks, emphasizing the community's resilience in the face of adversity (05:09).

Implications: The attack underscores the ongoing challenges of detecting and preventing lone-wolf acts of violence, especially those motivated by extremist ideologies. Authorities are investigating further charges, including federal hate crimes, as the community grapples with the aftermath of another tragic event.

---

2. Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks: The Abduction of Ukrainian Children

The episode shifts focus to the fraught peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul, where Ukraine has made a significant demand: the immediate return of nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children abducted during the conflict.

Key Points:

• Ukraine's Demand: Ukraine presented Russia with a documented list of abducted children, complete with names and backgrounds, urging their swift return (06:11).
• Russia's Response: Russia has been largely uncooperative, admitting to the abductions only reluctantly and offering to return a mere ten children, framing their actions as "saving children from a war zone" rather than abductions (07:11).
• Prisoner Exchange: While a significant prisoner exchange is underway, focusing on wounded, sick, and young soldiers, there has been little progress on the broader ceasefire or the return of civilians and children (08:25).

Notable Quotes:

• Khrystyna Shkudor (Child Advocate): Emphasizes the meticulous documentation of the abducted children, highlighting the personal stories behind the numbers (06:42).
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: Criticizes Russia's stance, suggesting they view Ukraine's demands as pandering to Western sentiments (07:52).

Significance: Ukraine's strategic use of peace talks to highlight the plight of abducted children not only brings international attention to this humanitarian issue but also serves as a potential leverage point in broader negotiations. The technological prowess demonstrated by Ukraine in disrupting Russian military assets further strengthens their position and could influence future diplomatic efforts.

---

3. South Korea’s Pivotal Presidential Election

Turning to Asia, Up First examines the high-stakes presidential election in South Korea, occurring in the wake of former President Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment for attempting to impose martial law.

Election Dynamics:

• Frontrunner: Lee Jae Myung, a former human rights lawyer leading the Democratic Party, holds a double-digit lead in the polls. His platform includes strengthening checks and balances, expanding the social safety net, and addressing the nation's declining birth rate (10:54).
• Opposition: Conservative candidate Kim Moon Soo is gaining traction by capitalizing on allegations of corruption against Lee and criticizing his perceived leniency towards China. Voters like Jang Cheol Ho fear that Lee's presidency could jeopardize South Korea's democracy and economic stability (11:39).
• Voter Sentiment: The electorate remains deeply influenced by the recent martial law crisis, which has fostered a distrust in political leadership and heightened concerns over national security, particularly regarding China's rising influence (10:05).

Notable Quotes:

• Chae Su Ji (Voter): Reflects the anxiety and fear experienced during the martial law declaration, underscoring the emotional impact on ordinary families (10:05).
• Jang Cheol Ho (Voter): Expresses deep distrust towards Lee Jae Myung, fearing the erosion of democratic principles and increased Chinese influence (11:39).

Implications: The election is a critical juncture for South Korea, with significant implications for its domestic policies and international relations, particularly with the United States and China. The outcome will likely influence the country's approach to democracy, economic policies, and regional security dynamics.

---

Conclusion

Today's episode of Up First provides a thorough exploration of events that not only dominate headlines but also shape international relations and domestic policies in profound ways. From the tragic attack in Boulder to the intricate peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, and the consequential election in South Korea, NPR delivers a nuanced and comprehensive overview that equips listeners with essential insights into these global issues.

---

Notable Production Credits:

• Edited by: Eric Whitney, Ryland Barton, Kevin Drew, Lisa Thompson, and Adriana Gallardo
• Produced by: Ziad Bach, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas
• Engineering Support: Zoe Venkenhoven
• Technical Director: Carly Strange

For more in-depth stories and daily updates, subscribe to Up First+ and support local NPR stations at donate.npr.org.

Transcript

[Steve Inskeep]

A man accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at Colorado demonstrators says he planned the attack for a year. He says he waited until after his daughter's graduation strike.

[Amy Martinez]

What else have police learned about the suspect, I'mi Martinez?

[Steve Inskeep]

That is Steve Inskeep. And this is up first from NPR News. Ukrainians have a demand in peace talks. They want Russia to send back children abducted during the war.

[Allison Sherry]

The biggest challenge is that Russia is not willing to return those kids back.

[Amy Martinez]

Also, South Koreans vote for a new president today. The last person they elected tried to impose martial law. Lawmakers promptly impeached him. So how are voters thinking about the aftermath? NPR is where the news is and our colleague Anthony Kuhn is in Seoul. Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day foreign.

[Tonya Moseley]

I'm Tonya Moseley, co host of FRESH air. At a time of sound bites and short attention spans, our show is all about the deep dive. We do long form interviews with people behind the best in film, books, tv, music and journalism. Here, our guests open up about their process and their lives in ways you've never heard before. Listen to the FRESH AIR podcast from NPR and why.

[NPR News]

Keeping up with the news can feel like a 24 hour job. Luckily, it is our job. Every hour on the NPR News now podcast, we take the latest, most important stories happening and we package them into five minute episodes so you can easily squeeze them in between meetings and on your way to that thing. Listen to the NPR NEWS now podcast now.

[Synchrony Bank]

This message is from Synchrony bank, who wants to remind you to stay flexible, not the yoga bending circus performing kind of flexible, financially flexible, like with their high yield savings account. Stay [e-mail] NPR member FDIC, the man.

[Amy Martinez]

Arrested for throwing firebombs at people in Boulder, Colorado, says he, quote, wanted to kill Zionist people and that he'd do it again.

[Steve Inskeep]

Authorities say Mohamed Sabri Suleiman threw Molotov cocktails at people marching in support of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. He's now facing a federal hate crime charge and multiple felonies.

[Amy Martinez]

Colorado Public Radio's Allison Sherry is covering this story. Good morning.

[Allison Sherry]

Hello, Steve.

[Amy Martinez]

Who is the person who made that statement?

[Allison Sherry]

We know he's 45 years old. He's an Egyptian national who lived in Kuwait for almost 20 years before coming to the US three years ago on a tourist visa, according to the Department of Homeland Security. That visa has since expired, but he says he had requested asylum and that was pending. He didn't have legal status, though.

[Amy Martinez]

Well, do authorities know if he acted.

[Allison Sherry]

Alone, that's what police believe so far at least. He told them he'd been planning the attack for a year and that he told no one about it. He actually waited for his high school daughter's graduation and then did it. He had five children and a wife. He lived in Colorado Springs. He left them a journal and a phone with messages for them. And the feds on Monday say they've talked to 44 people, searched the house and digital devices, but we don't have much information about what they found yet. Mr. Soleiman also tried to buy a gun late last year, but he wasn't able to because of his immigration status. So he learned on YouTube how to make Molotov cocktails and use those in.

[Amy Martinez]

The attack, I guess. Authorities also have this statement that he has made. What does that tell you about him?

[Allison Sherry]

In the state affidavit that was unsealed Monday afternoon, he said he'd been. He was planning to kill himself, that he had doused himself in gasoline, but he obviously didn't do that. He also only threw two of his 18 incendiary devices that he made, and he stopped because he says he hadn't ever hurt anyone. But we also know that police arrived very quickly and he was arrested within a few minutes. And there were people there also trying to intervene almost immediately.

[Amy Martinez]

Right. Did authorities know about this person or about his intent beforehand?

[Allison Sherry]

No. He wasn't on the radar of the feds or the Joint Terrorism Task Force here. And on the other side of this, Boulder police told me they weren't providing any security for the local members of the Run for Their Lives group who were marching Sunday because they hadn't asked for it. This group had been meeting since October in Boulder, just a few, mostly older people who marched every week in support of the Israeli hostages. And apparently no one thought there was much danger on the pedestrian mall in Boulder on any given weekend. There are often protests there for all kinds of things. And I do want to note that for Boulder, this is a very small community towards the mountains outside of Denver. This town's had kind of an outsized number of bad events in recent years. The local DA, Michael Dougherty, who filed the state charges against Mr. Suleiman, said as much yesterday.

[Anthony Kuhn]

This community has experienced too many tragedies.

[Allison Sherry]

Fires, floods and mass attacks. But each time I've seen this great.

[Anthony Kuhn]

Community respond with strength, resilience and support for one another.

[Allison Sherry]

I trust and hope that that will happen again.

[Amy Martinez]

Now, what do authorities do with the suspect next?

[Allison Sherry]

Well, we expect more charges to be filed in the coming days, reflecting the higher number of victims both in federal and state court. He's in jail for now and has another court appearance on Thursday.

[Amy Martinez]

And I guess we should mention when you say higher number of victims, authorities have added four to the number of people injured. The Original number was 8. Thanks so much. Really appreciate your help.

[Allison Sherry]

Thanks, Steve.

[Amy Martinez]

That's Alison Sherry of Colorado Public Radio. Ceasefire talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul ended quickly with no ceasefire. That's no surprise, although Ukraine used the occasion to make a dramatic demand.

[Steve Inskeep]

Yeah, Ukraine gave Russia a list of Ukrainian children abducted during the war, asking for them to be returned home immediately.

[Amy Martinez]

NPR's Joanna Kakissis. Our correspondent Keefe is following this. Hey there, Joanna.

[Joanna Kakissis]

Hey, Steve.

[Amy Martinez]

Who are these kids and what is the evidence they were taken?

[Joanna Kakissis]

Well, Ukrainian researchers have documented that nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children were abducted during the Russian invasion and occupation of some parts of Ukraine and then taken to Russia. I spoke to Khrystyna Shkudor, who advocates for these abducted children and their families.

[Allison Sherry]

The biggest challenge is that Russia is not willing to return those kids back. They even don't want to tell how many of them are right now in Russian Federation.

[Joanna Kakissis]

So in Istanbul, the Ukrainian delegation brought up these missing kids and pushed Russia to give them back.

[Amy Martinez]

And the researchers have names? They've got backgrounds, they've got information?

[Joanna Kakissis]

Yes, they have names, backgrounds. Some of them are from orphanages, some of them are from families.

[Synchrony Bank]

So.

[Joanna Kakissis]

So yeah, there's documentation for many of these children.

[Amy Martinez]

How did the Russians respond to the demand?

[Joanna Kakissis]

Well, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russians did not react. Well, here's Zelensky speaking in Lithuania on Tuesday. He's saying that Russia claimed the Ukrainians were using this issue to pander to the west to childless European grandmothers in particular. So Zelensky did add that at least the Russians now admit to taking Ukrainian children. In Istanbul, Ukraine gave the Russians a list of 400 children to be returned immediately as part of these talks. Now, Russia said it would consider returning 10 of them and added that they did not abduct the children, but rather saved them from a war zone.

[Amy Martinez]

Okay, so no big breakthrough on ceasefire talks. How is this situation different from last month when each side did swap a thousand prisoners of war?

[Joanna Kakissis]

Well, so this prisoner exchange agreed to yesterday is set to include as many POWs like a thousand, but with priority given to those who are wounded and sick, as well as young soldiers, those between the ages of 18 and 25. Zelensky, who did not participate in the talks, but was briefed on them, said 200 Ukrainian civilians imprisoned in Russia might also be released.

[Amy Martinez]

Okay, so some adults at least are going back and forth to their home sides. Did the two sides agree on anything else yesterday?

[Joanna Kakissis]

So no, exactly. As you mentioned earlier, not a ceasefire, but the two countries did agree to exchange the bodies of soldiers killed in action.

[Amy Martinez]

I want to follow up on another thing that we've been reporting on this week, Joanna. Ukraine, of course, conducted this covert operation. Drones hit military bases deep inside Russia. Technologically impressive, operationally impressive. Why is it also really meaningful for Ukrainians?

[Joanna Kakissis]

Ukraine says it took out a third of Russia's bombers using drones smuggled in on trucks to Russian airfields as far away as Siberia. And though Western weapons have certainly helped Ukraine, its innovative operations like this that have helped the country but punch above its weight against Russia, which is much larger and better resourced. And Zelensky says he believes the latest operation will actually force Russia to the negotiating table. So it's an important symbolic victory for Ukrainians, and it's also something that could bring Russia to the negotiating table.

[Amy Martinez]

Okay, and the Russians at least showed up, although didn't agree on too much yet. Joanna, thanks.

[Joanna Kakissis]

You're welcome.

[Amy Martinez]

That's NPR's Joanna Kakisses. Polls will soon close in South Korea, where the country is voting in a snap election for a new president.

[Steve Inskeep]

That's what South Koreans do when a president tries to overturn the constitution. The former president was impeached for declaring martial law and is now out of office.

[Amy Martinez]

NPR's Anthony Kuhn has been talking with voters and is in Seoul. Hey there, Anthony.

[Anthony Kuhn]

Good morning, Steve.

[Amy Martinez]

Okay, so how important is that very recent history in this election?

[Anthony Kuhn]

Well, the martial law crisis turned many people against the ruling party, and it opened a rift within the ruling party between politicians who supported martial and those who opposed it. We spoke to Chae Su ji, who is 43 and with her young son. And she says she remembers seeing tanks in her neighborhood when martial law was declared. She told us when we saw the news the next morning, my children got very scared and we were also very nervous, wondering what's going on. I just felt so sorry that our children had to experience and see all that things that we'd only seen in movies and books. So the martial law crisis shook South Koreans confidence in their democracy. It spurred many of them to take to the streets to defend democracy. And it appears to have also sent them to the polls today to hold their politicians accountable.

[Amy Martinez]

Okay, so who's the frontrunner?

[Anthony Kuhn]

Well, this is really Lee Jae Myung's race and his double digit lead in the polls to lose. Lee Jae Myung is a former human rights lawyer. He's been leading the left of center opposition Democratic Party, but he's moderated his liberal stances some to appeal to centrist voters. He's promised more checks and bal to limit presidential power and avoid a future power grab like the martial law incident. And he's promised a stronger safety net, such as subsidies to young families to boost the country's plunging birth rate.

[Amy Martinez]

Oh, this is all really interesting and relates to debates we have in the United States. Checks and balances, talking about birth rates, everything else. You say he has a big lead, but the conservative party, and that's the old ruling party, right, they're getting a little bit closer.

[Anthony Kuhn]

Frontrunner Lee Jae Myung still has a comfortable lead, but ex President Yoon Sung Yeol did succeed in rallying his conservative base even while he was being impeached. Also, frontrunner Lee Ji Myung has been dogged by allegations of corruption. And we spoke to one voter, Jang Cheol Ho, who was concerned about those charges and therefore voted for the conservative candidate, Kim Moon Soo. He said if that kind of criminal, in other words, Lee Jae Myung becomes president, I think there will be no future for South Korea's democracy. China is encroaching on our economy and politics and I can't let my children and grandchildren live in a Chinese colony. So South Korean conservatives are distrustful of China. They see EJ Myung is too cozy with Beijing and that's why this voter voted for the conservative Kim Munso candidate.

[Amy Martinez]

Of course, South Koreans have relied on the United States for generations to help them fend off China. How is the winner, whoever it turns out to be, likely to handle relations.

[Anthony Kuhn]

With the US Lee Ji Myung says he supports an ironclad alliance with the US and he's offered to help facilitate any effort by President Trump to reach out to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Now, Kim may not be willing to speak, but if he is, whoever is South Korea's next president needs to be careful that if Trump and Kim reach a deal, they don't sell out South Korea's interests by, for example, unilaterally agreeing to leave North Korea's nuclear weapons in place or pulling U.S. troops out of South Korea.

[Amy Martinez]

Anthony, thanks for the insights. It's always a pleasure to hear from you.

[Anthony Kuhn]

Thank you, Steve.

[Amy Martinez]

NPR's Anthony Kuhn is in Seoul. And that's up first for this Tuesday, June 3rd. I'm Steve Inskeep and I'm Amy Martinez.

[Steve Inskeep]

You really should listen to Consider this from npr. We here at up first give you three big stories of the day. Our Consider this colleagues take a different approach. They dive into a single news story and then tell you what it means to you in about 15 minutes. Listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcast.

[Amy Martinez]

Today's up first was edited by Eric Whitney, Ryland Barton, Kevin Drew, Lisa Thompson, and Adriana Gallardo. It was produced by Ziad Bach, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Zoe Venkenhoven, and our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow.

[Synchrony Bank]

This message comes from Saatva. Getting quality sleep can improve athletic abilities, increase energy, and boost memory and learning. Saatva mattresses are designed to promote that kind of sleep. Save $200 on $1,000 or more at saatva.com NPR As NPR's daily economics podcast.

[Anthony Kuhn]

The Indicator has been asking businesses how tariffs are affecting their bottom line.

[Joanna Kakissis]

I paid 800,000 today.

[Steve Inskeep]

You paid $800,000 in tariffs today?

[Joanna Kakissis]

Yes.

[Anthony Kuhn]

Wow. And what that means for your bottom line? Listen to the Indicator from Planet Money. Find us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Amy Martinez]

On NPR's Throughline.

[Allison Sherry]

Witnesses were ending up dead.

[NPR News]

How the hunt for gangster Al Capone.

[Tonya Moseley]

Launched the IRS to power.

[Allison Sherry]

Find NPR's Throughline wherever you get your podcasts.