When North Korea’s “Institute for American Studies” issues a memo, it tends to fall into that peculiar category—part diatribe, part run-on fever dream—ripe for a curious read. Case in point: the latest memorandum, translated and published by KCNA, which is fired off like an unsolicited book report from a parallel universe, this time focusing on the U.S. “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative.
The View from Pyongyang: Star Wars, Paranoia Edition
KCNA details that this new U.S. missile defense plan is, in the memo’s telling, less about defense and more about “nefarious supervillain” aims—an “America first” gambit topped off with ambitions for outer space domination. The “Golden Dome,” as the memorandum describes, is portrayed as the “height of self-righteousness,” enabling “unipolar domination.” According to the institute, this isn’t a simple shield but an elaborate structure built to cement American supremacy from the stratosphere.
In one segment, the memorandum asserts that the defense system is a thinly veiled pretext to ensure “military superiority in an all-round way,” characterizing it as part of what it calls “outer space nuclear war scenarios.” All this, the memo claims, represents not merely the continuation but the escalation of U.S. space militarization efforts, with the ultimate aim of giving Washington the ability to “launch the military strike at its enemy states at its will.”
KCNA further notes that the memo connects these moves to long-standing American doctrine: whoever dominates outer space, so the line goes, holds the key to winning future wars. As highlighted in the memo, references to new systems like a “space aircraft carrier”—described as a $60 million U.S. Space Force project—are cited as evidence of the U.S. dismissing international qualms in favor of “aggravating military confrontation in outer space.” The memorandum goes even further, equating the development of the X-37B unmanned spacecraft to the introduction of a nuclear threat, and suggesting its very existence has transformed science fiction into a not-so-pleasant reality.
The outlet also recounts how the memorandum claims that U.S. history is littered with similar justifications: building up interception systems under the guise of national defense, but, in Pyongyang’s framing, always with an eye toward targeting “independent sovereign states”—naming the DPRK in particular. The logic laid out is familiar: it’s not about defense, but about staying one step ahead by accelerating an arms race and provoking exactly the insecurities it decries.
Satellites, Shields, and the “Cannon Fodder” Club
The memorandum, as described by KCNA, doesn’t stop at hardware critiques. It transitions quickly to suspicion over U.S. relations and partnerships, especially with Japan and South Korea. Since 2016, it alleges, the United States has been holding missile warning and defense drills, notably mobilizing Aegis destroyers and teaming up with regional allies. According to the KCNA summary, the U.S. has planted Space Force units in South Korea (in 2022) and in Japan (2024), and has set up a real-time tripartite missile information sharing system targeting North Korean launches.
KCNA indicates that, from the memorandum’s perspective, these partnerships amount to a “dangerous military gambling,” accusing the U.S. of viewing its allies as expendable “cannon fodder and bullet shield.” The suggestion is that the U.S., by weaving together an integrated missile defense system, exploits its allies for its own gains, betting their security in pursuit of its interests.
The memo also takes aim at U.S. defense economics. According to commentary in KCNA, it contends that the United States is responsible for 95% of global space defense expenditures. It characterizes the “Golden Dome” as history’s largest arms buildup plan, referencing a Congressional Budget Office estimate claiming costs could run as high as $542 billion—far beyond the $175 billion cited by the current administration.
Underneath the Bluster, Familiar Themes
Peeling away the hyperbole, it becomes striking—though perhaps unsurprising—how the North Korean memorandum mirrors the rhetorical style of many of its international counterparts. As KCNA relays, the memo accuses the U.S. of heightening global instability and escalating tensions, spurring a nuclear and space arms race, and plotting to maintain “hegemony” under the banner of defense.
Yet, underneath the dramatic language and elaborate accusations, the memo ultimately circles back to an oddly familiar refrain: only unmatched power can guarantee a state’s safety in an uncertain world. In the memorandum’s closing emphasis, as quoted by KCNA, “the security of the state and the region can be reliably guaranteed only by the symmetry of the matchless power capable of firmly bringing not only the current challenges but also the coming challenges under its control.”
So, is this memo meant as a warning, a projection, or just another round in the never-ending, mutually suspicious chess match of international relations? Outside of the KCNA newsroom or certain subcommittees in Washington, is anyone really reading these dispatches with a deadpan face?
As each side continues broadcasting its own anxieties—about satellites, shields, and who gets to wave the biggest stick in orbit—one has to wonder if the medium itself isn’t half the message. Will future editions bring an even more colorful cast, or just another page of bureaucratic performance art? For now, we watch and wait. If nothing else, the “Institute for American Studies” remains one of the world’s more unusual windows into how the familiar becomes strange when refracted through a very different lens.
