North Korea has 20-60 nuclear weapons, South Korea says

North Korea has 20-60 nuclear weapons, South Korea says in first official comment about Kim’s secret arsenal

South Korean minister says Kim Jong-un may have up to 60 nuclear weapons
Comment made by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon in parliament session
It is the first time a senior Seoul official has publicly talked about the size of the North’s haul of nuclear bombs

By Associated Press

Published: 06:36 BST, 2 October 2018 | Updated: 10:07 BST, 2 October 2018

North Korea may have up to 60 nuclear weapons, South Korea has said in its first official comment about Kim Jong-un’s secret arsenal.

Seoul’s Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told parliament the estimates on the size of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal range from 20 bombs to as many as 60.

His comment was the first time a senior Seoul official has publicly talked about the size of the North’s haul of weapons.

North Korea may have up to 60 nuclear weapons, South Korea has said in its first official comment about Kim Jong-un's (pictured) secret arsenal

North Korea may have up to 60 nuclear weapons, South Korea has said in its first official comment about Kim Jong-un’s (pictured) secret arsenal

Cho, responding to a question by a politician, said the information came from intelligence officials.

He may have unintentionally revealed the information while his own ministry said the comments did not mean that South Korea would accept North Korea as a nuclear state. This suggests Seoul’s diplomatic efforts to rid the North of its nuclear programme would continue.

The South Korean assessment on the North’s arsenal is not much different from various outside civilian estimates largely based on the amount of nuclear materials that the North is believed to have produced.

According to South Korean government reports, North is believed to have produced 110 lbs of weaponized plutonium, enough for at least eight bombs.

Seoul's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told parliament the estimates on the size of North Korea's nuclear arsenal range from 20 bombs to as many as 60. Pictured: A North Korean test rocket launch in November 2017

Seoul’s Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told parliament the estimates on the size of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal range from 20 bombs to as many as 60. Pictured: A North Korean test rocket launch in November 2017

Stanford University scholars, including nuclear physicist Siegfried Hecker who visited North Korea’s centrifuge facility at Nyongbyon in 2010, wrote earlier this year that North Korea is estimated to have a highly enriched uranium inventory of 550 to 1,100 lbs, sufficient for 25 to 30 nuclear devices.

Many foreign experts say North Korea is likely running additional secret uranium-enrichment plants.

The North entered talks with the United States and South Korea earlier this year, saying it is willing to negotiate away its advancing nuclear arsenal.

Nuclear diplomacy later stalled due to suspicions over how sincere North Korea is about its disarmament pledge.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to visit Pyongyang this month to set up a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.