Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: President Trump made a surprising concession to North Korea. He announced that the U.S. military would suspend joint military exercises with South Korea. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We'll be saving a tremendous amount of money, plus I think it's very provocative. SHAPIRO: Provocative is how Pyongyang has characterized these drills. They've served as a major defense strategy for Seoul in case of an attack from the North. Here to talk us through this announcement and its possible consequences is NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman. Hi, Tom. TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE: Hi, Ari. SHAPIRO: What was the Pentagon's response to this announcement? Were they taken by surprise? BOWMAN: Well, it seems they were. And from talking with people, it seems this was not planned at the Pentagon before the summit but was decided on the ground in Singapore. And the military, by the way, has not received any orders to cancel the
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