South Korea says North Korea may have up to 120 nuclear warheads

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.

Read more about North Korea:

• South Korea's Lee calls for talks with North Korea to formally end Korean War
• North Korea's Kim and Russia's Putin reaffirm ties on Korean Liberation Day
• What we know about North Korea’s expanding role in Russia’s war against Ukraine

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North Korea South Korea Donald Trump Kim Jong Un nuclear weapons Diplomacy