The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday warned the United States not to prepare for war while conducting dialogue, saying war preparations would compel the DPRK to bolster its physical deterrent force.

"Dialogue and preparations for war cannot go together. The war preparations stepped up by the Bush bellicose forces through the increase of their combat power behind the curtain of 'dialogue' will only compel the DPRK to bolster its physical deterrent force," the Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary.

"Success of the six-party talks for the settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula depends on whether the United States drops its hostile policy toward the DPRK or not. The 'dialogue' on the lips of the United States does not aim to solve the problem but to earn time to complete the war preparations," the commentary said.

It condemned the Bush administration and the US military for playing a double game, asserting that the United States would not weaken its war deterrent force in South Korea while announcing it would reduce its presence there.

"The United States is now massively shipping ultra-modern military equipment to South Korea under the pretext of filling up the vacuum caused by a partial 'reduction' of its forces in South Korea. This is a dangerous move to wind up the preparations for a second Korean War in order to inflict another disaster of war upon the Korean people," said the commentary.

"It is the principled stand and the mode of defending the sovereignty maintained by the people of the DPRK which should be fully prepared for both dialogue and war," it added.