Alwaght- A top South Korean official said North Korea is estimated to have up to 60 nuclear weapons.
Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told parliament Monday the estimates on the size of Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal range from 20 bombs to as many as 60. This was Seoul’s first public comment about the size of the North’s weapons arsenal.
He was responding to a question by a lawmaker, saying the information came from the intelligence authorities, AP said.
The National Intelligence Service, South Korea’s main spy agency, has not commented on the statement.
Cho’s ministry said on Tuesday that the comments didn’t mean that South Korea would accept North Korea as a nuclear state, suggesting Seoul’s diplomatic efforts to rid the North of its nuclear program would continue.
According to South Korean government reports, North is believed to have produced 50 kilograms of weaponized plutonium, enough for at least eight bombs.
