Handout / Reuters
Donald Trump’s major concession to Kim Jong Un on Tuesday that he will cancel so-called “war-games” in South Korea apparently came as a surprise to the Pentagon. The president made the announcement following his summit with the North Korean leader in Singapore, calling the annual military exercises “provocative” and “inappropriate.” But The New York Times reports that hours after the summit ended, U.S. troops and military officials in Seoul said they were still going ahead with the exercises later this year. Lt. Col. Jennifer Lovett, a U.S. military spokeswoman in South Korea, said in an email that it “has received no updated guidance on execution or cessation of training exercises—to include this fall’s schedule Ulchi Freedom Guardian. We will continue with our current military posture until we receive updated guidance from the Department of Defense.” In Washington, officials at the Pentagon, State Department and White House were “scrambling” to figure out the impact of Trump’s comments, according to the report.