North Korea caught stockpiling up to 120 nuclear warheads after Donald Trump reveals 'very powerful' atomic arsenal

The figure is significantly higher than the estimate given by Mr Trump, who said on Wednesday that the North Korean regime possesses 57 "very powerful" nuclear weapons.

Mr Gyu-back said the US President's comments were at odds with estimates by South Korean authorities.

In June, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated that Pyongyang had "possibly assembled around 60 warheads, possesses enough fissile material to produce at least 30 more".

Mr Trump confirmed that he is planning to meet Mr Kim later this year in a bid to breathe life into diplomatic efforts with the North Korean regime.

Speaking from the White House's South Lawn on Wednesday, the President said: "I know Kim Jong-un very well, and he's going to be fine as long as we have a smart President.

"The fact that I get along with him - that's a good thing, not a bad thing. He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons.

"They should have never allowed it. If I were president, I wouldn't have allowed it. But he's got them."

Mr Trump's comments came after he directed Pentagon officials to cut short US military exercises with South Korea, arguing they sent a "totally inappropriate and hostile" message to Pyongyang.

On his Truth Social platform, the President described North Korea as an "unthreatening and respectful" nation.

He wrote: "Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong-un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in joint military exercises with South Korea."

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Mr Trump said that although it was too late to cancel the drills altogether, he had directed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to "substantially reduce" them.

He also revealed that he had invited South Korea to join US efforts to "denuclearise" Iran, but the country declined.

However, the President said the decision to scale back the military partnership with Seoul was "somewhat unrelated".

On Monday, South Korea's presidential office said it was aware of Mr Trump's social media post and remained hopeful of "meaningful dialogue" with the US Government.

Mr Trump and Kim had a tumultuous relationship during the President's first term in the White House.

The North Korean leader previously branded Mr Trump a “mentally deranged US dotard” and warned that he had a "nuclear button" on his desk.

Mr Trump responded by warning that the East Asian nation would be "met with fire", while referring to Kim as "little rocket man".

The pair later held a historic meeting in Singapore in 2018, resulting in a joint statement on denuclearisation.

Their second summit took place in Vietnam in 2019 but ended abruptly without an agreement after differences emerged over sanctions relief and nuclear disarmament.

Later that year, Mr Trump met Kim at the Korean Demilitarised Zone, becoming the first sitting US president to step across the military demarcation line into North Korean territory.