By Kyu-seok Shim and Jack Kim
SEOUL, Aug 20 (Reuters) - South Korea estimates North Korea possesses between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads, its defence minister said on Thursday, citing a range significantly higher than U.S. President Donald Trump's recent assertion that Pyongyang has 57 nuclear weapons.
Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back told lawmakers that North Korea was generally believed to have around 80 to 120 warheads, although he cautioned it was difficult to determine an exact figure.
"We usually
see it as around 80 to 120, but it is considerably limited to state an exact number," Ahn told a parliamentary committee.
Later, Ahn clarified that the figure was derived from estimates by private research organisations, adding that South Korea's military could not officially confirm the numbers.
Asked about Trump's comment a day earlier that Kim possessed 57 "very powerful nuclear weapons", Ahn said, "the numbers appear somewhat different."
Trump made the remark at the White House on Wednesday while discussing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his plans to meet him later this year.
South Korea has traditionally avoided publicly disclosing detailed estimates of North Korea's nuclear stockpile and does not officially recognize Pyongyang as a nuclear weapons state under its long-standing policy supporting denuclearisation.
Ahn reiterated that position when asked whether the government acknowledged North Korea as a nuclear-armed state.
"We cannot officially acknowledge that," he said.
He also declined to comment on whether Trump's reference to 57 warheads amounted to U.S. recognition of North Korea's nuclear status, saying it would not be appropriate for South Korea's defence minister to comment on the U.S. president's remarks.
Ahn said South Korea would continue to rely on the U.S. nuclear umbrella, in line with Seoul's longstanding non-nuclear policy.
"We cannot develop nuclear weapons. Nor should we accept the deployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons," Ahn said.
The comments came as Trump seeks to revive engagement with Kim after ordering a scale-back of joint U.S.-South Korean military drills, which he described as "hostile" to North Korea.
North Korea responded coolly to the move. Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of the North Korean leader, said the reduced exercises remained provocative and aggressive despite their shortened duration.
She dismissed any suggestion that Pyongyang would view the move as a meaningful goodwill gesture and said she was unaware of any recent contacts between Trump and Kim, although she described the personal relationship between the leaders as "excellent."
Trump said at the White House on Wednesday that he expected to meet Kim later this year, potentially reviving diplomacy that stalled after a series of unprecedented summits in 2018 and 2019 collapsed over disagreements on sanctions relief and North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
(Reporting by Jack Kim, Kyu-seok ShimEditing by Ed Davies)
