North Korea has raised serious concerns over the US plans to fortify space with a missile shield, terming it a dangerous escalation that could trigger nuclear space wars. Trump last week announced details and initial funding for the missile shield system, calling it "very important for the success and even survival of the United States".
The initiative, although ambitious, could cost billions of dollars as it also faces significant political challenges. In a statement shared by North Korea’s state-run media outlet, Pyongyang's foreign ministry slammed the "very dangerous 'threatening initiative' aimed at threatening the strategic security of the nuclear weapons states."
The United States is crossing all limits and is hell bent on the moves to militarise outer space,” they said. "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.
Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told reporters that Pyongyang is perceiving Trump's "Golden Dome" as a threat.
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"The North's strong reaction suggests it views the Golden Dome as capable of significantly weakening the effectiveness of its nuclear arsenal, including its ICBMs," he said.
"If the US completes its new missile defence programme, the North will be forced to develop alternative means to counter or penetrate it," he added.
Joining hands are the United States and two of the biggest rival powers, China and Russia, who have recently started modernising their weapons technology to counter anything that the US aims to build.
Meanwhile, Beijing has also expressed strong reservations about Washington’s Golden Dome plan, accusing the United States of undermining global stability. Beijing is closing the gap with Washington when it comes to ballistic and hypersonic missile technology, while Moscow is modernising its intercontinental-range missile systems and developing advanced precision strike missiles, according to a 2022 Pentagon review.
The Kremlin has said Trump's initiative would require consultations with Russia but was otherwise a "sovereign matter" for the United States, softening its tone after also previously slamming the idea as destabilising. It's pretty obvious that if the United States perceives such plans to “nuclearise space," then China and Russia, even after costing overwhelming bucks, will proceed with their counter-plans.
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