North Korea has up to 60 nuclear bombs, Seoul says

Pyongyang is believed to have produced 50kg (110lbs) of weaponised plutonium, enough for at least eight nuclear bomb

Image:South Korea says North Korea has up to 60 nuclear missilesSouth Korea says it believes North Korea has up to 60 nuclear bombs - but refuses to accept it is a nuclear state.

Estimates on the size of the isolated nation's nuclear arsenal range from 20 bombs to as many as 60, the South's unification minister Cho Myoung-gyon told parliament.

It is the first time a senior Seoul official has publicly spoken about the size of the North's secretive haul of weapons.

Mr Cho said the information came from the intelligence authorities.

Image:South Korean President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

However, he said this did not mean South Korea would accept North Korea as a nuclear state, suggesting Seoul's diplomatic efforts to halt the North's nuclear programme would continue.

According to South Korean government reports, the North is believed to have produced 50kg (110lbs) of weaponised plutonium, enough for at least eight nuclear bombs.

South Korea's main spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, did not comment immediately.

Image:Kim Jung Un next to the intercontinental ballistic rocket Hwasong-15

As denuclearisation talks between the US and North Korea continue to stall, Pyongyang has warned Washington that it cannot use a declaration to end the Korean War as a bargaining chip