Kim-Trump Summit: Comparing the DPRK’s nuclear weapons with US arsenal

World Today

The primary goal of the Kim-Trump summit is to persuade the DPRK to completely denuclearize. But Pyongyang still will not reveal a detailed inventory of its nuclear program.

CGTN’s Gerald Tan takes a look at what’s believed to be part of the DPRK arsenal as compared with the U.S.

The nuclear capabilities of the DRPK cannot be fully determined. Still, its entire arsenal is a far cry from what the United States currently wields.

In 2017, Pyongyang successfully tested its first, truly, intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM. The Hwasong-15 has a potential range of 13,000 kilometers.

Currently, the U.S. maintains a fleet of 400 ICBMs – with the same range as the DPRK model.

Pyongyang conducted its largest nuclear test ever in 2017. The government claimed it was a hydrogen bomb, which triggered a magnitude-6.3 earthquake.

Washington began conducting thermonuclear weapons test in the 1950s and today has a stockpile of more than 4,000 hydrogen bombs.

In total, it’s estimated the DPRK has a cache of between 40 and 60 nuclear weapons.

Compare that with the U.S. arsenal, which includes more than 6,500 warheads, though about 2,000 are retired.