North Korea has claimed that it is fully ready to counter an all-out conventional war or a nuclear war, should either be waged against it.

The Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North’s Workers' Party of Korea, said Monday that all joint military exercises that South Korea and the U.S. plan to conduct this year, including this month’s Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills, are a declaration of a new cold war rather than a simple display of deterrence.

The daily said the North’s military has no limits in its capabilities, stressing that it possesses the solidarity of its people, which it said is more powerful than any nuclear weapon.