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

South Korea's Defence Minister, Ahn Gyu-back, stated on Thursday that North Korea is estimated to possess between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads, a figure significantly higher than the 57 nuclear weapons recently cited by US President Donald Trump. Ahn clarified that these estimates come from private research organizations and cannot be officially confirmed by South Korea's military. He reiterated South Korea's long-standing policy of not officially recognizing North Korea as a nuclear weapons state and its commitment to denuclearization, stating, "We cannot officially acknowledge that." Ahn also affirmed that South Korea would continue to rely on the US nuclear umbrella and would not develop its own nuclear weapons or accept the deployment of US tactical nuclear weapons.