People across the world have already started eyeing the U.S. presidential race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, but there’s another high-stakes election across the Pacific. On April 10, South Korea will elect a new National Assembly, the country’s 300-member unicameral legislature. The results will in large part indicate citizens’ satisfaction with President Yoon Suk Yeol, elected in 2022, and his conservative People Power Party (PPP), while also testing the mettle of the main opposition, the more liberal Democratic Party (DP), which seeks to keep Yoon from gaining momentum as it looks ahead to the 2027 presidential election.

“We three ministers agreed to restore and normalize three-nation cooperation at an early date,” stated the South Korean foreign minister, signaling a resumption of talks in 2024.

As Ukraine struggles to keep the world’s attention on its struggle against Russian forces, one country has seemingly continued to pay attention: North Korea.

On Sunday Oct. 21, Japan, South Korea, and the US conducted their first joint aerial exercise near the Korean Peninsula. The exercise comes on the heels of revived tensions between North Korea and its two Northeast Asian neighbors, as well as continued efforts to soften South Korean-Japanese relations due to the growing threat of China.

On April 3 and 4, the US, Japan, and South Korea held a joint anti-submarine drill to prepare for a potential conflict with North Korea.

President Yoon Suk-yeol flew to Tokyo to meet Prime Minister Kishida on March 16th, which is the first official Korea-Japan summit in 12 years.