South Korean Defense Minister Estimates North Korea Possesses 80 to 120 Nuclear Weapons
2 sources · South Korea · 1 of them is linked to a state
Who reported this
- Yonhap
- The Korea Herald
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
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Every source for this story reports from South Korea.
South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back stated on Thursday that Seoul estimates North Korea possesses between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads. Speaking during a general meeting of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee in response to an inquiry from People Power Party Rep. Sung Il-jong, Ahn noted that it is difficult to provide an accurate figure. He explained that the estimate is based on the amount of plutonium North Korea is believed to possess. This figure is higher than the estimate of 57 nuclear weapons suggested by U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday. Despite the estimate, Ahn stated that Seoul cannot recognize North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons and maintained that the pursuit of denuclearization must continue.
How each side framed it
- Centre
- The center outlet presented the information as an urgent, brief factual update without additional context.
- Centre-right
- The center-right outlet provided detailed context regarding the legislative setting and contrasted the South Korean estimate with the figure provided by the U.S. President.
Sources
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