On Nov. 8, the U.S. midterm elections were held. So far, the Democratic Party is expected to have a majority in the Senate and the Republican Party will have a majority in the House.
 According to The Associated Press, Democrats won 48 seats in the Senate and Republicans won 49. However, CNN reported that the Democratic Party actually secured 50 seats because the two independents were close to the Democratic Party. In Georgia, no candidate won the majority, so a runoff is expected. Regardless of Georgia's outcome, Democrats secured half of the seats, positioning themselves as the majority in the Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris as the casting vote.
 The Republicans are expected to win the House election. The Assisted Press expected Democrats to win 213 seats, and the Republican Party to win 220 seats. The exact number of seats can vary, although experts say that the Republican Party has a slight advantage.
 Before the election, inflation, abortion, and democracy were expected to be major issues in the election. According to a poll conducted by the BBC on Nov. 8, 32% answered inflation as the most important issue in deciding how they voted, followed by abortion with 27% followed by gun policy, crime, and immigration. However, experts analyzed that inflation did not have a significant impact on the election. According to NBC News, 52% said and 44% said Democrats, when asked which party they believed would handle inflation better. This is quite different from the pre-election prediction that most people who are concerned about inflation will vote Republican.
 Despite Republicans recapturing the majority in the House, experts say Democrats did well in the election. “The midterm results are a searing indictment of the Republican Party,” Marc Thiessen, American conservation author, told Fox News. The rationale is that Democrats overcame unfavorable issues such as inflation and defended a majority of the Senate, even though public sentiment in the midterm elections was generally favorable to the opposition. 
 Meanwhile, the midterm elections are expected to have impact on South Korea as well. The Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) predicted that the intensifying conflict between the two parties could lead to congressional discussions on bipartisan tasks such as infrastructure, strengthening industrial competitiveness, and checking China. James Kim, a Research Fellow at the Asian Institute for Policy Studies, predicted that the U.S.-China relationship would not change until the next presidential election. As a result, he pointed out that the U.S.-China conflict could escalate further and there might come a time when South Korea has to make a strategic choice.