China, North Korea, and Russia's Response to Trump's ‘Golden Dome' Proposal
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, supervises a drill of long-range artillery and missile systems at North Korea's eastern coast on May 8, 2025. Credit - Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP
President Donald Trump has promised a 'Golden Dome' that will protect the United States. But America's rivals see the announcement last week of the plans for a new space-based missile defense system as provocation.
Trump's proposal, which as proposed remains years away from being operational, has many uncertainties, not least cost. The 'Golden Dome,' modeled after Israel's 'Iron Dome,' would consist of a constellation of interceptors, satellites, and sensors 'capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world,' according to the President.
But the biggest question is whether it would even make the U.S. and world safer. Critics have raised concerns that the effort to create such a shield would raise suspicions and exacerbate a global arms race as well as accelerate the weaponization of space.
Here's how some other nations have already responded to the 'Golden Dome.'
North Korean state media on May 27 reported that the foreign ministry condemned Trump's proposed 'Golden Dome,' saying it was an 'outer space nuclear war scenario supporting the U.S. strategy for uni-polar domination,' and added that it was a 'typical product of 'America first', the height of self-righteousness, arrogance, high-handed and arbitrary practice.'
The nuclear-armed state boasts one of the world's largest militaries with some 1.3 million active-duty personnel. It is known for regularly launching missile tests—47 in 2024 alone—including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that theoretically can reach the U.S. mainland. North Korea also has an estimated 70-90 nuclear weapons, according to the D.C.-based Arms Control Association, and the U.S. Defense officials have said it is continuing to expand its arsenal.
According to the state media report on the foreign ministry's memorandum about the Golden Dome, the U.S. is using the pretense of a defensive project to 'attempt to militarize outer space' and 'preemptively attain military superiority in an all-round way.'
Earlier this month, before Trump announced the Golden Dome project from the Oval Office but after having discussed the idea for many months, Russia issued a joint statement with China in which they called the planned program 'deeply destabilizing in nature.' In the statement, the two countries said the Golden Dome was 'a complete and ultimate rejection to recognize the existence of the inseparable interrelationship between strategic offensive arms and strategic defensive arms.' It also opposed how countries are using space for armed conflict, saying that it will jointly counter security policies and activities aimed at using outer space as a 'warfighting domain.'
But after Trump spoke further about his plans for the Golden Dome at the Oval Office last week, the Kremlin offered a more muted response. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told local media that the project was 'a sovereign matter' for the U.S., adding: 'If the United States believes there is a missile threat, then of course it will develop a missile defense system.' Peskov also said Russia will not yet assess the threat to nuclear parity with the U.S. as details of the project remained scant.
Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that while Moscow needs to take the Golden Dome project seriously, 'Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that our strategic systems are equipped so that we can reliably break through any air defense systems, including layered ones.'
Many of Russia's space programs are limited by international sanctions, but its missile arsenal still poses a notable air attack threat. Information from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency shows that by 2035 Russia may have 1,000 boosted hypersonic weapons, some 5,000 land attack cruise missiles, and around 400 ICBMs. A congressional report in May also outlined the ability of Russia's missiles to carry nuclear warheads and how it has used the threat of a nuclear attack to prevent any sort of international intervention in its occupation of Ukraine.
After issuing the joint statement with Russia, China continued to criticize the U.S. over its Golden Dome plan, urging Trump to trash it.
'The project will heighten the risk of turning the space into a war zone and creating a space arms race, and shake the international security and arms control system,' Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said in a regular press briefing on May 21.
The Pentagon views China as a strong missile threat that's undergone considerable development over the past two decades. According to a 2024 report, China had 'the world's leading hypersonic missile arsenal,' possessing more than 600 nuclear warheads and some 400 ICBMs. According to the Defense Department's 2022 Missile Defense Review, China 'utilizes Russian-developed air and missile defense systems while also pursuing indigenous capabilities that are growing in sophistication.'
Contact us at letters@time.com.
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