The top commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) on Thursday highlighted the need to maintain trilateral security cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan, the South's military said,

"Today, the alliance between the United States and Korea remains more essential than ever in shaping our shared future," said Secretary Blinken.

The damaged flight data recorder from the Jeju Air passenger jet that crash-landed in South Korea will be sent to the United States for analysis, Seoul’s transport ministry said Wednesday, as bereaved families began visiting the crash site.

The U.S. secretary of state aimed to show that his country stood by South Korea as it grapples with a political crisis, and as Donald J. Trump returns to power.

South Korea's acting President Choi Sang-mok vowed to continue trilateral cooperation with Japan and the United States, saying on Friday his country's diplomacy remains steadfast despite an unprecedented political crisis at home.

North Korea said Tuesday it successfully test-fired a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile, claiming the weapon would "reliably contain any rivals in the Pacific region."

By developing hypersonic weapons and testing them before the presidential changeover in the United States, North Korea has a significant bargaining chip to use for whenever the new Trump administration comes looking to continue their previous diplomacy with Kim Jong-un.

North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency claimed a successful test of a new type of intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile.

Less than two weeks before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, the U.S. and China have escalated their tit-for-tat battery war, part of their rivalry to dominate the next generation of strategic technologies.

South Korean opposition parties introduced a bill Thursday calling for an independent investigation into impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol's brief martial law declaration.