North Korea denounced Seoul’s military exercises on Monday, claiming that the South prepares for a war against the North, and warned that it will "mercilessly" wipe out invaders should war break out.

The communist country claimed that "severe winter training" South Korea's military is holding now is a reaction to its earlier military decision to take an "all-out confrontation posture" against South Korea's conservative Lee Myung-bak government.

"This is aimed to deliberately get on the nerves of the army and people of the DPRK in a bid to invent a pretext for provoking a war of aggression against it," Minju Joson, a newspaper published by the North's cabinet, said in a commentary, using the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The commentary was carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The newspaper claimed the South Korean military exercises are part of Seoul's plan to "invade the North from the outset of the new year in an effort to find a way out of its crisis.

The paper did not elaborate but by "crisis," it apparently meant the global economic downturn Seoul is now trying to fend off.

The accusations came less than 10 days after a spokesman for the General Staff of the North's Korean People's Army said the North will take an "all-out confrontation against the South.

"The world will clearly see how the reckless anti-DPRK confrontation moves of the group going against the mindset of the people hoping for national unity and cooperation will go bust in face of our army standing in an all-out confrontation with them," the North's military spokesman in a statement on Jan. 17.

Seoul officials say winter training is only part of its military's regular exercise scheduled throughout the year.

Pyongyang regularly criticizes Seoul's military exercise as aimed at preparing for an invasion of the North.