Se Eun Gong

President Trump met with President Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit last week. APEC's host, South Korea, is carefully balancing its relations with the U.S. and China.

The election comes about two months after President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office following his impeachment for declaring martial law in the country.

South Korea is seeking a degree of normalcy by gradually easing restrictions. "We have to find a way to safely coexist with COVID-19 even if that means taking some risks," an official said.

Churches resume in-person services and stadiums welcome sports fans as the country once again manages to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

A former secretary of Park's says she endured four years of sexual harassment. The mayor was found dead on Friday in a park, and the allegations have left the country divided about his legacy.

The country had prepared to welcome students back to classrooms on Wednesday, but dozens of new virus cases linked to nightclubs in Seoul have emerged.

By Friday, South Korean authorities had identified 163 patients who tested positive again after a full recovery. The number more than doubled in about a week, up from 74 cases on April 9.

On April 15, legislative elections will go as planned but with new coronavirus safety features, and the government's handling of the virus is a top issue.

Goo Hara, a former member of the K-pop group Kara, was found dead in Seoul on Sunday, the second K-pop celebrity death in less than two months. The 28-year-old star had been a target of cyberbullying.

The country's Constitutional Court overturned the ban enacted in 1953. Despite South Korea's heavily Christian population, in recent years anti-abortion sentiment has softened.