Since the beginning of 2026, the international situation has been undergoing major upheavals. The United States, following its attack on Venezuela at the start of 2026, launched an attack on Iran jointly with Israel at the end of February 2026. It is necessary to closely watch how these developments will affect the perceptions and actions of the Kim Jong Un regime in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which has just held a Party Congress (the 9th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea), the first in five years. In the Republic of Korea (ROK), the Lee Jae Myung administration, which took office in June 2025, is advancing "modernization" of the U.S.-ROK alliance in the context of the difficult environment of ongoing U.S.-China strategic competition, while at the same time aiming to develop the China-ROK "strategic cooperative partnership." It is necessary to pay close attention to how this "pragmatic diplomacy" centered on national interests will unfold going forward.