“We usually see it as around 80 to 120, but it is considerably limited to state an exact number,” Reuters quoted Ahn as saying.

Trump says he will meet Kim again

Trump said on Wednesday that he had received a response from Kim following his attempts to re-establish contact and confirmed that he expected to meet the North Korean leader later this year, Reuters reported.

Asked whether he expected to meet Kim this year, Trump replied: “Yeah, I will be.”

BREAKING: President Trump says he expects to meet with North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un later this year, in a likely revival of his first-term diplomatic push to control or persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Trump says North Korea’s nuclear… pic.twitter.com/PWXv43ZE2o

— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 19, 2026

The comments have revived speculation about another Trump-Kim summit after the two leaders held an unprecedented series of meetings in 2018 and 2019. Those diplomatic efforts eventually broke down over disagreements about North Korea’s nuclear programme and sanctions relief.

Trump has sought to revive engagement with Kim during his second term.

Kim’s sister says she knows nothing about talks

Trump’s claim of renewed contact has been met with a cautious response from Pyongyang.

Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s powerful sister, said she was unaware of any recent communication between Trump and Kim, Reuters reported. At the same time, she described the personal relationship between the two leaders as “excellent”.

Her comments came after Trump ordered a reduction in US participation in joint military exercises with South Korea, describing the drills as “hostile” towards North Korea.

The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise was shortened from 11 days to five, with some field training scaled back or replaced with simulations, according to Reuters.

Kim Yo Jong, however, said the changes did not make the exercises any less provocative or aggressive.

Why Trump’s 57-nuclear-weapons claim matters

Trump’s reference to 57 nuclear weapons was unusual because, according to Reuters, the US government does not publicly provide an official estimate of the size of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.

President Donald J. Trump disclosed today that North Korea possesses “57 very powerful nuclear weapons,” adding that the arsenal “shouldn’t have been allowed to happen.” The figure is notable because the U.S. government does not publicly disclose a precise number for North… pic.twitter.com/mrB4IWBxjn

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) August 20, 2026

South Korea has also traditionally avoided publicly disclosing detailed estimates of Pyongyang’s stockpile and does not officially recognise North Korea as a nuclear-armed state, maintaining its policy of denuclearisation.

Asked whether Seoul considered North Korea a nuclear-armed state, Ahn said: “We cannot officially acknowledge that,” Reuters reported.

Ahn also said South Korea would continue to rely on the US nuclear umbrella.

“We cannot develop nuclear weapons. Nor should we accept the deployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons,” he said.

What happened during Trump’s first outreach to Kim?

Trump and Kim went from trading threats to holding face-to-face summits during Trump’s first presidency. The two met in Singapore in 2018 and Hanoi in 2019, while Trump later became the first sitting US president to enter North Korean territory during a brief encounter with Kim at the Demilitarised Zone, according to Reuters.

But the diplomacy broke down over the extent of North Korea’s nuclear disarmament and the sanctions relief Pyongyang wanted in return.

North Korea has since continued developing its nuclear and missile capabilities.

The competing estimates from Trump and South Korea now add another layer of uncertainty as Washington again seeks dialogue with Pyongyang: Trump says he wants another meeting with Kim, but North Korea has yet to publicly confirm that talks are underway.

(With inputs from agencies)