North Korea has denounced U.S. plans to reconfigure its military presence in South Korea.

In a statement Sunday, the North's National People's Committee for Protection of Peace claimed that Washington's plan to relocate its troops in South Korea is aimed at launching a preemptive strike against North Korea, citing the results of last month's Seoul-Washington security talks as alleged evidence.

The North Korean organization also stressed that nuclear deterrence is the best means to protect peace, saying that signs of a possible new war are emerging on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.

The recent statement is the North's first comment on the troop move since Rep. Roh Hoe-chan of South Korea's minor Democratic Labor Party claimed earlier this month that Seoul had agreed with a U.S. plan to use American troops stationed in South Korea as a "stabilizer" in northeast Asia.

Under such a plan, U.S. troops in the South would intervene militarily in the event of possible conflicts on the Korean Peninsula or between China and Taiwan.