South Korea sees U.S. by its side regardless of who is in White House

South Korea’s government isn’t worried about which candidate wins the U.S. presidential election since it expects to work with whomever takes the White House to confront the nuclear threat from North Korea, according to a senior official in Seoul.

Vice Unification Minister Kim Soo Kyung added in an interview that while it has gotten far harder for North Koreans to escape the repressive state, there has been a jump in the flow of elites defecting to South Korea under Kim Jong Un’s regime.

Ahead of the U.S. vote, some South Koreans have been worried about what they see as an omission in the Democratic Party’s platform when it comes to seeking North Korea’s denuclearization, she said, adding that the alliance between Washington and Seoul is stronger than ever.