North Korea says Donald Trump's Golden Dome plan threatens ‘outer space nuclear war'
In a memorandum issued by the foreign ministry's Institute for American Studies, North Korea described the plans as a "threatening initiative", not a defensive measure, aimed at securing military superiority and threatening nuclear-armed adversaries, according to state media KCNA.
The Golden Dome plan"is a typical product of ' America first', the height of self-righteousness, arrogance, high-handed and arbitrary practice, and is an outer space nuclear war scenario," it said, urging the international community to speak out against the plan.
Seven days after his inauguration in January, Mr Trump issued the ' Iron Dome for America ' executive order to create a cutting-edge defence system that protects the US from long-range missile attacks.
Last week he revealed that his administration has settled on a design for the system, which he said will be operational within three years. The president appointed Michael Guetlein, the current vice chief of space operations, to lead the project.
The project has been estimated to cost $175bn to the US, and the Congressional Budget Office earlier this month estimated that it could go up to between $161bn and $542bn over two decades.
The North Korean memorandum called it 'the largest arms buildup plan in history', and said it threatened the global security environment.
North Korea said US has been 'hell-bent on the moves to militarise outer space' after previously defining outer space as a battlefield in the future.
'The US plan for building a new missile defence system is the root cause of sparking off a global nuclear and space arms race by stimulating the security concerns of nuclear weapons states and turning outer space into a potential nuclear war field,' it added.
It argued that the US's continued trilateral military cooperation with its allies Japan and South Korea is an effort to use them as 'cannon fodder and bullet shields to pursue its own interests'.
'We resolutely oppose the United States' criminal ambition to use outer space for hegemonic purposes,' it added.
'We will continue to exercise our sovereign right to defend our strategic security interests and ensure regional peace and security.'
North Korea's criticism of the US missile defence initiative comes amid its own expanding nuclear weapons programme, with Pyongyang continuing to carry out hundreds of missile tests in open defiance of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.
Despite international sanctions, including a 2006 UN Security Council order banning its development of nuclear weapons and related activities, North Korea has tested multiple intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). In October 2024, North Korea conducted its latest test of its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile, recording the longest flight in the process.
The slew of frequent missile tests has prompted the US, South Korea and Japan to boost their military cooperation, including annual joint defence drills in the Korean peninsula.
China last week said it was also "seriously concerned" about the Golden Dome project and called for Washington to abandon its development.
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