SEOUL, South Korea – South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has warned that North Korea is developing its capabilities to produce between 10 and 20 nuclear warheads per year.
He also called for reducing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Lee’s statements came after his meeting at the White House with US President Donald Trump.
The latter expressed his hope to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal is estimated at fifty heads.
It has enough fissile material to produce up to 40 more.
The South Korean president told the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Monday evening that Pyongyang had completed “the development of a ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States.”
“They continue to develop the capacity to produce approximately 10 to 20 nuclear bombs annually,” he added.
Lee touched on Seoul’s tough policies toward Pyongyang before taking office earlier this year.
“We have made efforts to deter North Korea and impose sanctions, but the result has been that North Korea continues to develop its nuclear program,” he said.
He continued: “The reality is that the number of nuclear weapons possessed by North Korea has increased over the past three to four years”.
He stressed his country’s commitment to conventional weapons to deter the north.
But he also touched on his efforts to ease measures seen as provocative, such as stopping the broadcast of anti-North Korean propaganda messages using loudspeakers across the border.
Guest on Trump
Lee was Trump’s guest at the White House on Monday, in a meeting that Trump preceded by expressing his desire to meet Kim Jong Un again and criticizing Lee.
Trump, who met Kim three times during his first term, praised the relationship between them.
He told reporters that he knew him “better than almost anyone else, except his sister”.
Trump took to social media to attack Lee Jae-myung.
“What’s happening in South Korea?” he wrote on his Truth Social platform It looks like a purge or a revolution. We cannot witness this and continue our work there.”
In response to an inquiry from a White House correspondent to clarify what he referred to, Trump said, “Well, I heard that there have been raids on churches over the past few days”.
But while receiving Lee, who praised him, Trump seemed to retract what he had said.
“I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding,” he said, speaking of “rumors.”
The US President stressed the similarity of views between him and his South Korean counterpart regarding North Korea.
