North Korea has criticized the U.S. decision to move part of its 37,000 troops in South Korea to Iraq. The North's official Korean Central News Agency denounced the move, calling it Washington's preparations to launch a preemptive attack on the North.

The reports accused the United States of planning to dispatch aircraft carriers and other modern military weapons to South Korea after cutting its ground troop strength.

The KCNA also reiterated Pyongyang's longstanding demand for the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korean soil.