Tens of millions of Americans will begin heading to the polls in the coming hours to cast their ballots in the 2018 midterms,... elections touted by many U.S. media outlets as a referendum on Donald Trump's presidency.
While the polls don't give us a clear picture of what might happen,... we thought in the meantime, we'd find out how the different outcomes could affect the Trump administration's North Korea policy.
Our Park Hee-jun met with some experts for their insights.... so let's take a look.

These midterm elections in the U.S. are particularly important for the Korean Peninsula,... as the outcome is directly linked to the future direction of nuclear negotiations with North Korea.

Right after the elections, North Korea and the U.S. will hold high-level talks to make progress on the North's denuclearization,... and sort out the details of a second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump planned for early next year.
So the midterms are of immediate concern for the Korean Peninsula.

There are four possible scenarios, but the latest polls suggest the most probable one is where Republicans maintain control of the Senate, and Democrats win back the House.
According to one expert, for South Korea, that outcome would complicate the ongoing peace drive, including inter-Korean cooperation projects.
The Trump administration would lose some of its political clout to push through the president's plans to engage the North.

"I think the human rights issue will be raised by the Democrats. And also more pressure on North Korea will be raised by Democrats at the Congress, which is contradictory to President Trump's policy, which is negotiation. So, all in all, I think President Trump will kind of be in an isolated position by Congress as far as the North Korea policy is concerned."

And so there may be a change of pace,... but a different expert doesn't expect *much to change from the status quo, even if Democrats regain control of Congress.

"Because, from next year and going on, the U.S. will go into election period in the second half of the year. So probably leading up to that point, the first half, we might see a little stalemate and postponement of everything, every process, and try to keep everything under control and manageable."

President Trump will have to seek support from Democrats for a successful outcome with North Korea.
But ultimately, it comes down to President Trump's response-- whether he will push for dialogue with the regime AND its denuclearization as he has up until this point.
Park Hee-jun, Arirang News.