*By Christian Smith*
South Koreans responded with a mix of optimism and worry Tuesday after President Trump announced he would suspend joint military exercises with South Korea as Kim Jong-un considers how to dismantle North Korea's nuclear arsenal.
President Moon Jae-In of South Korea [watched on TV and smiled](https://www.facebook.com/KoreaClickers/photos/rpp.181274814520/10156484091904521/?type=3&theater) as the American president and the North Korean leader met in Singapore. But Trump's unexpected announcement that he would stop joint military drills made some of America's allies in South Korea uneasy, according to Martyn Williams, editor at NorthKoreaTech.org.
"The right wing in South Korea is already not very pleased with these military drills stopping taking place," Williams said in an interview with Cheddar.
The president's statement, which appeared to be an off-the-cuff comment in a discussion with reporters after his meeting with Kim, was not part of the joint statement signed by the two leaders. The United States and South Korea conduct regular war games to prepare for the possibility of a conflict with North Korea, and there are about 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.
Trump had said he hoped to strike a deal with Kim to eliminate North Korea's nuclear program, and touted the "very comprehensive" statement the leaders agreed to at the summit. But Williams said denuclearization will take more negotiations.
"I think it was a good first step, but what comes next is the most important thing," Williams said.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-winners-and-losers-of-the-north-korea-summit).
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday Jan. 15, 2019.
When William Barr, President Trump's nominee for attorney general, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday for his confirmation hearing, his views on executive privilege will be under the microscope. "Mr. Barr has expressed some very broad views of executive authority and he's also expressed a very strong view that a president cannot be criminally charged," Jennifer Daskal, Associate Professor of Law at American University, told Cheddar on Monday.
Weak economic data from China and the ongoing government shutdown appeared to drag down the major U.S. indexes on Monday morning. SpaceX is slashing its workforce by 10 percent in an effort to become "leaner." Plus, we sit down with Emmy-award winning actor and producer Yeardley Smith who is most famous for voicing the iconic cartoon character, Lisa Simpson.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, Jan. 14, 2019.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) warned President Trump not to mess with emergency funding for California on Friday after the commander-in-chief threatened to cut off disaster-relief in the fire-ravaged state. In a tweet on Wednesday, Trump suggested that California itself was to blame for the wildfires that killed 86 people and destroyed thousands of homes last year, and said he was considering pulling its FEMA funds.
The housing market is slowing down ー and that's not necessarily a bad thing. So says Tendayi Kapfidze, chief economist for LendingTree, who told Cheddar Friday what to expect from the housing market this year.
Is it time for the federal government to hire its own chief information officer? Rep. Will Hurd (R-Tex.) thinks so. He told Cheddar Friday that the recent spate of major data breaches warrant a federal czar to help protect consumers and potentially even levy penalties on companies that don't do enough to safeguard users' information.
As the government shutdown approaches the milestone of becoming the longest in history, Transportation Security Agency employees are feeling the strain ー and soon, so will travelers, Joe Shuker, a TSA union representative, told Cheddar.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Jan. 11, 2019.
