The North Korea-U.S. relationship plays far and wide, a daily drama that at its extreme threatens to draw Asia into another regional war. Less attention is paid to South Korea, its national security interest, the drivers of its foreign policy, or even the special election underway following the impeachment of its president. Whereas focus on the North centers on its nuclear and missile programs, questions about the sanity of its leadership , and reasons for its behavior, attention on the South generally revolves around major electronics and automobile manufacturers, popular culture exports and, more recently, the oddities connected to the recent scandal that engulfed former President Park Geun Hye . South Korea is emerging from an intensified period of political uncertainty , culminating in the May 9 early election to replace Park.