South Korea has established diplomatic relations with Syria’s new Islamist government months after longtime leader Bashar Assad was ousted.

In the latest twist in South Korea’s ongoing political crisis, the country’s Constitutional Court reinstated Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as acting leader, overturning his impeachment by opposition lawmakers three months ago.

Foreign ministers from Japan, China and South Korea sought common ground in areas like aging, low birth rates, natural disasters and cultural exchange at a meeting that took place at a time of growing tensions.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is putting up a desperate fight for his political life at Seoul’s Constitutional Court after being impeached and arrested for his short-lived imposition of martial law last year.

North Korea says its latest weapons test was a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile designed to strike targets in the Pacific as leader Kim Jong Un vowed to further expand his collection of nuclear-capable weapons to counter rivals.