North Korea Has Up to 120 Nuclear Warheads, South Korea Says
South Korea estimates North Korea has 80 to 120 nuclear warheads, well above Donald Trump’s figure of 57, as Washington seeks renewed talks with Kim Jong Un.
Raja Awais Ali
8/20/20262 min read
South Korea Estimates North Korea Has Up to 120 Nuclear Warheads
South Korea estimates that North Korea possesses between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads, according to Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back. The estimate is considerably higher than the 57 nuclear weapons recently mentioned by U.S. President Donald Trump. Ahn said the exact number is difficult to determine and later clarified that the 80-to-120 figure comes from estimates by private research organizations, not from an officially confirmed count by South Korea’s military.
Ahn gave the estimate to lawmakers on Thursday, saying North Korea was generally believed to have around 80 to 120 nuclear warheads. When asked about Trump’s statement that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un possesses 57 “very powerful nuclear weapons,” Ahn said the figures appeared to be different.
Trump made the comment at the White House on Wednesday while discussing Kim Jong Un and said he expected to meet the North Korean leader later this year. The two leaders previously held high-level meetings in 2018 and 2019, but talks eventually stalled over disagreements involving sanctions relief and North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
South Korea has traditionally avoided publicly disclosing detailed estimates of North Korea’s nuclear stockpile. Seoul also does not officially recognize North Korea as a nuclear-armed state under its longstanding policy supporting the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Ahn repeated that position when lawmakers asked whether the South Korean government recognized North Korea as a nuclear state.
Ahn also said South Korea would continue relying on the U.S. nuclear umbrella for its security. He said Seoul cannot develop nuclear weapons and should not accept the deployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea.
The comments came as Trump seeks to revive engagement with Kim Jong Un. Trump recently ordered a reduction in joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises, describing them as hostile toward North Korea. Pyongyang responded cautiously to the move.
Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s influential sister, said the reduced exercises remained provocative and aggressive despite their shorter duration. She rejected the idea that Pyongyang would consider the reduction a meaningful goodwill gesture. She also said she was unaware of any recent contact between Trump and Kim, although she described the personal relationship between the two leaders as “excellent.”
The difference between the two estimates has drawn attention because Trump’s figure of 57 nuclear weapons is significantly below South Korea’s cited range of 80 to 120 warheads. At the lower end, the South Korean estimate is 23 higher than Trump’s figure, while the upper end is 63 higher. However, South Korea has made clear that its figure is an outside estimate rather than a verified official count.
The actual size of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal remains difficult to establish because Pyongyang does not publicly provide a complete and independently verifiable inventory of its nuclear weapons. South Korea therefore continues to avoid giving an exact official figure.
The latest estimate comes as Washington considers renewed diplomacy with North Korea. If Trump and Kim meet again later this year, North Korea’s nuclear program is expected to remain an important issue, particularly after previous negotiations failed to resolve disagreements over sanctions and nuclear weapons.
For now, South Korea’s position is that North Korea is not officially recognized as a nuclear-armed state, while its defense minister has cited private estimates putting the country’s nuclear stockpile at 80 to 120 warheads. Trump, meanwhile, has referred to 57 nuclear weapons as Washington looks toward possible renewed talks with Kim Jong Un.
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