North Korea slammed on Tuesday US President Donald Trump's "Golden Dome" missile shield plan as a "very dangerous" threat that could spark nuclear war in space, state media said.
Trump announced new details and initial funding for the missile shield system last week, calling it "very important for the success and even survival of our country".
The initiative faces significant technical and political challenges, according to analysts, and could come at a hefty price tag.
In a statement shared by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), 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 "hell-bent on the moves to militarize outer space," the foreign ministry said.
"The US plan for building a new missile defense system is the root cause of sparking off 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.
Washington -- Seoul's key security ally -- has in recent years ramped up joint military exercises and increased the presence of strategic US assets, such as an aircraft carrier and a nuclear-powered submarine, in the region to deter the North.
Pyongyang has repeatedly declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear weapons state and routinely denounces joint US-South Korea drills as rehearsals for invasion.
Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP that Pyongyang saw Trump's "Golden Dome" as a threat.
"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 defense program, the North will be forced to develop alternative means to counter or penetrate it," he added.
- China, Russia modernizing weapons -
China has also expressed strong concerns 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 modernizing 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 destabilizing.
The plan's Golden Dome name stems from Israel's Iron Dome air defense system, which has intercepted thousands of short-range rockets and other projectiles since it went into operation in 2011.
The United States faces various missile threats from adversaries, but they differ significantly from the short-range weapons that Israel's Iron Dome is designed to counter.
