North Korea accused the United States in May 2025 of risking an arms race and possible nuclear confrontation in space with President Donald Trump's proposed Golden Dome missile-defense system, sharpening Pyongyang's criticism days after Washington announced new details of the project.
In a statement carried by North Korean state media KCNA, the Foreign Ministry described the planned system as a threat to strategic stability and accused Washington of seeking to militarize outer space. North Korea's description of Golden Dome as a potential route toward a "nuclear war scenario in space" represented Pyongyang's assessment of the program rather than an independently established consequence of the system.
The criticism followed Trump's May 20, 2025 announcement that his administration had selected an architecture for Golden Dome and placed U.S. Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein in charge of the initiative. Trump said at the time that the project was expected to cost about $175 billion and that his administration was seeking an initial $25 billion for it.
What the United States says Golden Dome is designed to do
The initiative grew out of a January 27, 2025 executive order directing the Pentagon to develop a next-generation homeland missile-defense shield.
According to the order, the architecture is intended to defend the United States against ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, advanced cruise missiles and other aerial threats. The administration's plans include combinations of ground-, sea- and space-based sensors and interceptors, including potential space-based interception capabilities.
That space component is one reason the project drew criticism from North Korea, China and Russia. Missile-defense systems can be defensive in their stated purpose while still affecting the strategic calculations of nuclear-armed states, because those states may fear that improved defenses could weaken the credibility of their retaliatory forces.
North Korea argued that Golden Dome could therefore encourage countries to develop additional weapons or countermeasures capable of penetrating or overwhelming the system. The United States, by contrast, has presented the project as an effort to strengthen homeland defense against increasingly sophisticated missile threats.
China also objected to the project
China separately raised what it called "grave concern" about Golden Dome. At a May 21, 2025 briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the project envisioned a global, multi-layer missile-defense system and argued that plans for orbital interception capabilities could intensify military competition in space.
Beijing said the system had what it characterized as a "strong offensive nature" and warned that it could disrupt strategic stability. Those claims reflected the Chinese government's position on the project; Washington has described Golden Dome as a defensive system intended to protect U.S. territory.
China's full response was published by its Foreign Ministry.
Earlier in May 2025, China and Russia had also issued a joint statement criticizing U.S. missile-defense plans and specifically objecting to the possibility of deploying interception systems in orbit.
Why Golden Dome matters to North Korea
North Korea has spent years expanding a missile arsenal that includes systems designed to threaten regional targets and, in the case of its intercontinental ballistic missiles, potentially the continental United States. Pyongyang declared itself a nuclear-weapons state in legislation adopted in 2022 and has continued missile development despite international sanctions.
For that reason, a U.S. system intended to improve interception of ballistic and other advanced missiles directly affects North Korea's deterrence calculations. Analysts have noted that Pyongyang could respond to stronger U.S. defenses by developing additional missiles, decoys, maneuverable weapons or other methods intended to overwhelm or evade interception.
However, Golden Dome's eventual effectiveness cannot be inferred from its proposed architecture. Building a system capable of detecting, tracking and reliably intercepting large numbers of sophisticated missiles across different stages of flight involves substantial technical, operational and financial challenges.
Cost, technology and implementation remain major questions
When Trump announced the selected architecture in May 2025, many important program details remained under development. The administration's $175 billion figure was a presidential estimate rather than a final life-cycle cost, and the eventual cost depends heavily on how many sensors, satellites, interceptors and ground installations are deployed.
Congress subsequently provided $24.4 billion for integrated air and missile defense in the 2025 budget reconciliation law. The Congressional Research Service noted that lawmakers continued to face questions about Golden Dome's technical feasibility, program details and long-term cost.
Later developments also made clear that Golden Dome would be a multi-year development effort rather than a finished shield appearing immediately after the 2025 announcement. By late 2025, the administration was directing agencies to develop and demonstrate prototype next-generation missile-defense technologies by 2028, while work continued on space-based and terrestrial components.
The dispute therefore centers on both capability and strategic impact. Washington says Golden Dome is intended to improve protection of the United States from advanced missile attack. North Korea and China argue that an extensive U.S. missile-defense network, particularly one involving weapons or interceptors in space, could undermine strategic stability and encourage countermeasures.
How far those concerns translate into a new arms competition will depend on the system that is ultimately built, its demonstrated capabilities, and how the United States and other nuclear-armed states adjust their forces in response.
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