As political changes loom, South Korea's leadership crisis could affect ties with China, Japan and the US, observers say With the fate of suspended South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol hanging in the balance,

South Korean lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties, business leaders and local government leaders have converged in Washington, DC, for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

Trump defense secretary nominee Pete Hesgeth ruffled feathers in S. Korea with his written statement to the Senate panel overseeing his confirmation

The United States on Saturday reiterated its "firm" support for the South Korean people and appreciated the Asian country's efforts to act in line with its Constitution, hours after a Seoul court issued a warrant to detain President Yoon Suk Yeol for an extended period over his botched martial law

In his November 7, 2017, speech to South Korea’s National Assembly, then-President Donald Trump unambiguously noted that “this alliance between our nations was forged in the crucible of war and strengthened by the trials of history.

Washington, a return to normalcy would come as a relief regardless of who’s in charge in Seoul. The current crisis has been a nightmare from which the Americans would hope to awaken and discover

John Kirby, White House national security communications adviser, said of Hegseth's remarks on North Korea's status as a nuclear power: "We've not made such a recognition. I can't speak to what the incoming team will—how they'll characterize it. We've not gone so far as to make that recognition."

Foreign ministers from South Korea and Japan met in Seoul on Monday to discuss strengthening their relations in the face of increasing security challenges in the region and political tumult in the host nation.

North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles on Tuesday morning. The launch is the second of the year for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which last did a missile test on Jan. 6, when Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Seoul, South Korea . Tuesday’s rocket launch was first reported by South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

With the fate of suspended South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol hanging in the balance, the country has also been left facing an uncertain future as it battles through the resulting political turmoil.

North Korea warned Friday that it would exercise its right to self-defense "more intensively" as it condemned recent joint air drills among South Korea, the United States and Japan.