South Korea estimates North Korea possesses between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads, its defence minister said on Thursday, citing a range significantly higher than U.S. President Donald Trump's recent assertion that Pyongyang has 57 nuclear weapons.
Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back told lawmakers the figure came from private research estimates and could not be officially confirmed by Seoul's military.
"We usually see it as around 80 to 120, but it is considerably limited to state an exact number," Ahn told a parliamentary committee.
Asked about Trump's White House comment that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had 57 "very powerful nuclear weapons," Ahn said the numbers appeared to be somewhat different.
South Korea has traditionally avoided publicly disclosing detailed estimates of North Korea's nuclear arsenal and does not officially recognise Pyongyang as a nuclear weapons state, in line with its denuclearisation policy.
Ahn reiterated that Seoul could not formally acknowledge North Korea as a nuclear-armed state and said it would be inappropriate for him to interpret whether Trump's figure amounted to U.S. recognition of Pyongyang's nuclear status.
He also said South Korea would continue to rely on the U.S. nuclear umbrella under its longstanding non-nuclear policy, adding that Seoul could neither develop nuclear weapons nor accept the deployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons.
The remarks came as Trump seeks to revive engagement with Kim after ordering a scale-back of joint U.S.-South Korean military drills, which he described as hostile to North Korea.
Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korea's leader, has dismissed the reduced exercises as still provocative and aggressive, while saying she was unaware of any recent Trump-Kim contacts despite describing the leaders' personal relationship as excellent.
Trump said he expected to meet Kim later this year, potentially reviving diplomacy that stalled after summits in 2018 and 2019 collapsed over sanctions relief and North Korea's nuclear programme.
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Poland has declared two days of national mourning after a gunman opened fire in Kraków's historic main square. Investigators are examining possible far-right influences and the discovery of three bodies at the suspect's home.
Monday marks the second of two days of national mourning in Poland as police bolstered security after six people were killed in a mass shooting in Kraków.
Russian forces launched a ballistic missile attack on Kyiv early on Saturday, 7 November, injuring two people and damaging residential buildings, just three days before U.S.-led peace talks with Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-aligned group towards Riyadh on Sunday (8 November), after loud booms were heard in the Saudi capital. The Aramco building was damaged by falling debris.
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A 24-year-old man who killed six people in Poland’s central city of Krakow had advanced military-style shooting skills, according to a spokesperson for the gun club he attended.
Monday marks the second of two days of national mourning in Poland as police bolstered security after six people were killed in a mass shooting in Kraków.
Clashes between protesters and police erupted in Paris and Marseille on Saturday as demonstrations over rising living costs and declining public services continued for a fourth consecutive weekend across France.
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Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) dismissed a new U.S. military operation targeting the movement of weapons and sanctioned materials on Sunday, 8 November, saying Washington would fail to isolate the Iranian economy despite expanding restrictions on maritime and land routes.
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