President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a New Year’s press conference in Seoul on Wednesday. Photo by Yonhap
SEOUL, Jan. 21 (UPI) — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Wednesday that North Korea is producing enough nuclear fissile material to build between 10 and 20 nuclear weapons each year, warning that Pyongyang presents a growing danger to the world beyond the Korean Peninsula.
Lee made the remarks during a New Year press conference in Seoul, where he outlined his administration’s foreign and security priorities amid heightened regional tensions and an accelerating North Korean weapons program.
“North Korea is assessed to be producing material sufficient for roughly 10 to 20 nuclear warheads annually,” Lee said.
The North also continues to develop intercontinental ballistic missile technology aimed at striking the U.S. mainland, he added.
“One day, North Korea will believe it has enough nuclear weapons to sustain its regime, as well as ICBM technology capable of threatening the entire world, including the United States,” Lee said. “Once they have a surplus, the danger will overflow beyond their borders, posing a global risk.”
Lee said the estimate highlights the need for pragmatic efforts to reduce tensions and prevent miscalculation.
He reiterated a call for a previously proposed three-stage plan for addressing North Korea’s nuclear program, beginning with a halt to Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons development, followed by a reduction of its arsenal and ultimately full dismantlement.
“A halt to nuclear material production and further development of ICBM technology, as well as preventing overseas exports, would be beneficial,” Lee said.
Lee also pledged renewed efforts for Seoul to act as a “pacemaker” in facilitating dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang, calling U.S. President Donald Trump a “unique figure.”
“A Trump-style approach seems helpful in dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un,” Lee said.
Trump met Kim three times during his first term — in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019 and briefly at the Demilitarized Zone later that year — but the talks collapsed amid disagreements over sanctions relief and steps toward denuclearization.
During a visit to South Korea in October, Trump said he wanted to meet Kim Jong Un, though the two sides were unable to coordinate timing.
Kim has also signaled a willingness to resume diplomacy with the United States but warned that any discussion of giving up his regime’s nuclear arsenal would be off the table.
In a June report, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated that North Korea currently possesses about 50 nuclear warheads and has enough fissile material for 40 more.