South Korea estimates North Korea's nuclear arsenal at 80–120 warheads
South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Kyu-beok stated that Seoul estimates the number of North Korean nuclear warheads to be between 80 and 120. He made this assessment during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Defense Committee in response to a question from Song Il-jeong, a lawmaker from the main opposition party, the People Power Party, according to the Korea Herald.
According to the minister, it is impossible to determine the exact number of warheads. He noted that the South Korean estimate differs slightly from the U.S. estimate and is based on data from a local research institute regarding the estimated amounts of plutonium that North Korea possessed and could have produced.
The range cited by Ahn Kyu-beok exceeds the figure of 57 that U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned at the White House on Wednesday. At the same time, the minister stated that Seoul cannot officially acknowledge North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons and must continue pursuing denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
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Opposition lawmakers criticized the minister’s statement, arguing that it could complicate South Korea’s denuclearization efforts. Ahn Gyu-beom also downplayed the likelihood that Seoul would develop its own nuclear warheads or that U.S. tactical nuclear weapons would be deployed on the Korean Peninsula. He said that the imbalance of power resulting from South Korea’s non-nuclear status could be offset by its placement under the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
The minister also stated that the reduction in U.S. participation in the Ulchi Freedom Shield joint exercises would not affect Seoul’s plans to regain wartime operational control of its forces from the United States. According to him, testing of the full operational capability of the new bilateral Combined Forces Command—including its ability to counter missile strikes—has already been completed.
