SOUTH KOREA SAYS NORTH KOREA HAVE UP TO 120 NUCLEAR WARHEADS AND DONALD TRUMP IS STILL COUNTING TO 57.
South Korea’s defence minister has just told parliament that North Korea has around 80 to 120 nuclear warheads. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Kim Jong Un has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. The defence minister was careful.
He said the number comes from private research organisations and he is very limited in providing an exact figure. But he made it clear the numbers appear somewhat different from Trump’s estimate.
South Korean officials study their intelligence reports. Unlike some people.
The exact number does not matter. One nuclear weapon is enough to force respect. Donald Trump says he will meet Kim Jong Un later this year because he gets along with him very well.
The man who once threatened fire and fury now wants to be friends. America underrated Kim’s intelligence. Kim Jong Un is an intelligent leader. Despite sanctions, he has gone far beyond what America expected. He has created some of the most dangerous nuclear weapons on earth after Russia.
Only Russia, China and North Korea know the exact numbers. Donald Trump is guessing. South Korea is estimating. Kim Jong Un is building. If the world had been at peace with North Korea, China might not have become the tech hub it is today.
North Korea could have been that hub. That knowledge could have been channelled into technology that solves real problems. Instead, sanctions and fear created a nuclear programme that keeps the world awake at night.
Donald Trump is begging for a meeting with a dictator he once mocked as Rocket Man. He reduces joint military exercises because he has a good relationship with Kim Jong Un. He threatens Iran daily while calling North Korea’s leader his friend.
Negotiate with strong countries. Strike weak countries. That is the Trump doctrine. Iran gets bombed. North Korea gets a phone call.
If Kim Jong Un has up to 120 warheads and Donald Trump cannot even get the number right, who is really in control of this relationship. And how long before the world realises that American intelligence has been replaced by Donald Trump’s gut feeling.