North Korea parades its Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missiles in this undated photo released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, April 26, 2022. (KCNA)
North Korea may have as many as 120 nuclear weapons, the South’s defense minister said Thursday, an assessment far above President Donald Trump’s recent estimate.
Trump a day earlier told reporters outside the White House that Pyongyang has “57 very powerful nuclear weapons,” while discussing his relationship with Kim Jong Un.
That marked the first time Trump publicly cited a specific figure for the regime’s nuclear arsenal, Yonhap News Agency reported Thursday.
South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, speaking at a defense committee meeting in Seoul, said Seoul suspects Pyongyang has roughly 80 to 120 nukes but said he cannot provide specific figures publicly because he cannot formally recognize North Korea as a nuclear-armed state, according to an online video of the session.
Ahn declined to comment on Trump’s estimate.
Trump’s remarks followed a Wall Street Journal report Tuesday that he was seeking a face-to-face meeting with Kim during an anticipated trip to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, intergovernmental forum in Shenzhen, China.
Trump told reporters Wednesday that he plans to meet with Kim later this year but declined to confirm whether he was exchanging letters with the North Korean leader, according to an online video of the briefing.
The White House did not respond to an after-hours email for comment on Wednesday night in Washington, D.C.
A spokesman from South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense did not immediately respond to a text message requesting comment Thursday.
Kim’s sister Kim Yo Jong, head of general affairs for the ruling Workers’ Party, said Wednesday that she was not aware of any communications between Trump and her brother but noted the “relationship between those two leaders is still excellent,” according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
She nevertheless said the United States’ “hostile policy” toward North Korea remains unchanged, pointing to Ulchi Freedom Shield, one of two major exercises carried out annually by U.S. and South Korean troops.
In a Truth Social post Sunday, Trump called for Washington and Seoul to “substantially reduce” their military exercises, citing their cost and his relationship with the North Korean leader.
Kim’s sister said that decision was “unworthy of comment.”
Ulchi Freedom Shield, which began Monday and was slated to continue through Aug. 27, will now conclude after five days, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff announced Wednesday.
In a separate White House briefing on Wednesday, Trump declined to comment on whether his goal in reengaging with Kim is to discuss denuclearization.
Instead, Trump reiterated his “good relationship” with the North Korean leader, saying that he thinks nations, including Japan and South Korea, are “a lot safer” when he is president, according to an online video of the briefing.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung applauded Trump’s decision to scale down the exercise, calling it a “significant decision deeply infused with deliberations aimed at transcending hostility and confrontation on the Korean Peninsula to create peace,” in a X post Wednesday.
South Korea believes a peaceful regime is the “most perfect security asset,” Lee wrote, adding that the country aims to increase its defense spending up to 3.5% of its GDP.