It is believed that the Biden administration is going to take the more conventional approach to North Korea policy that gave us the nuclear armed Kim regime we have today:

Analysts say that once Biden takes office in January, he is likely to take a far more conventional approach to relations with North Korea than his predecessor—who famously eschewed formal diplomatic channels and instead put his faith in his personal relationship with Kim.

“I strongly suspect the Biden Administration’s approach on North Korea will rely on pressure and sanctions to raise the cost to North Korea of its nuclear and missile programs,” Revere says.

Having served as Vice President from 2008 to 2016 under Barack Obama, Biden comes into office familiar with the North Korea question. The Obama Administration took a starkly different approach to Pyongyang than the outgoing Trump administration did, refraining from any high-level dialogue as part of a policy dubbed “strategic patience.”

The core of the policy was waiting for international sanctions to cut off North Korea’s sources of outside revenue, eventually forcing Pyongyang to take verifiable steps toward denuclearization as a way of winning sanctions relief and gaining access to the international trade system.

The policy achieved none of its objectives, however, as North Korea expanded its nuclear capability throughout Obama’s term.

TIME magazine

You can read more at the link, but I would not be surprised if the Biden administration lets the Moon administration lead the way on North Korea policy making. That means and end to the Korean War declaration followed by the easing of sanctions on North Korea for cross border projects for little to nothing in return from the Kim regime.

As long as the Korean left remains in power in South Korea this issue is not going to go away no matter who the U.S. President is:

Despite growing speculation that the United States may play a mediating role in the ongoing dispute between Korea and Japan under the Joe Biden administration, diplomatic experts suspect that the new American president’s brokering efforts will not be as active as some expect.

Tensions between Korea and Japan have shown no signs of abating, sparked by the latter’s imposition of export controls on three key materials critical for the semiconductor and display industries here in apparent retaliation for a ruling by Korea’s Supreme Court ordering Japanese companies to compensate Koreans who were forced to work for them before and during World War II. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is a pretty big statement being directed towards China from the Pentagon:

Taiwan’s Naval Command on Monday (Nov. 9) confirmed media reports that a contingent of U.S. Marines have arrived at the invitation of Taiwan’s military and will begin training Taiwanese troops for four weeks starting that day, marking the first public acknowledgment of U.S. Marines training in Taiwan in over 40 years.

Starting on Monday, the Marine Raiders, the Marines’ special operations soldiers, will begin training Taiwanese Marines in assault boat and speedboat infiltration operations at the Tsoying Naval Base in Kaohsiung, reported UDN. This is the first interaction between Taiwanese troops and those of an allied country since the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) put a halt to such exchanges about seven or eight months ago.

Taiwan News via a reader tip

You can read more at the link.

This is going to be great news for the travel industry once this vaccine gets released:

South Korean travel-related stocks rallied Tuesday on growing hopes that the COVID-19 pandemic could be subdued after U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. reported promising results for its new coronavirus vaccine.

Pfizer announced Monday (U.S. time) that its vaccine candidate developed with BioNTech SE was found to be more than 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19, signaling progress in the global fight against the pandemic.

Local airline stocks, which have taken a beating this year from the pandemic, were buoyed by the report.

Shares in South Korea’s largest carrier, Korean Air Lines Co., soared 11.24 percent to 24,250 won (US$22), outperforming the broader KOSPI’s 0.23 percent gain. The carrier’s stock price spiked as high as 23.62 percent during the session.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but anyone think that this will be called the Biden Vaccine by the media once it is available to be released?

The article is right that Michelle Flournoy likely becoming the next Secretary of Defense was not a well kept secret:

On June 20, 2016, then-Vice President Joe Biden delivered keynote remarks at an event hosted by the Center for a New American Security, the think tank founded and, at that point, led by Michèle Flournoy.

Flournoy introduced Biden, praising him as a national security thinker and noting the ties between his staff at the White House and CNAS. Biden, in turn, acknowledged the little-kept secret of the defense world: that Flournoy was in line to become the first woman to serve as defense secretary under President Hillary Clinton.

“Well, madam secretary,” Biden said with a laugh as the crowd applauded. “I’m writing a recommendation for her, you know.”

The Clinton administration never materialized, following the election of President Donald Trump. But four years later, president-elect Biden is widely expected to fulfill his promise and tap Flournoy to lead the U.S. military.

Defense News

You can read more at the link, but supposedly Tammy Duckworth is interested in the position as well. Flournoy is way more qualified especially when you consider the difficulties Duckworth had running the Illinois VA. What creates confidence that she could run a much larger organization like the Pentagon?

Foreigners in South Korea may soon have some new trash bags to help them understand the recycling process:

The Gyeonggi Provincial Government rolled out plans Monday to encourage every city in the province to include common foreign languages — like Chinese and English — on their authorized garbage bags to improve recycling.  
   
Gyeonggi, which surrounds the capital of Seoul, is known to have the largest foreign-born population out of all provinces and metropolitan cities in Korea. Some 720,000 people, or 32.5 percent of all foreigners living in Korea, reside in Gyeonggi, the provincial government said.  
   
Currently eight cities in Gyeonggi have some form of foreign language instructions on their garbage bags, the provincial government said Monday in a statement — Suwon, Bucheon, Hwaseong, Ansan, Pyeongtaek, Gwangmyeong, Gunpo and Dongducheon. 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.