PYONGYANG, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) warned Thursday that the United States is training tunnel combat troops in preparation for an invasion of the DPRK.

The U.S. National Public Radio said on Jan. 9 that the U.S. forces were busy conducting tunnel combat drills by mobilizing its Fifth Armored Regiment in the base north of Seoul in December last year, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

"They are mulling conducting similar drills this year by mobilizing the 101st Air-Borne Division and the 82nd Air-Borne Division which earned ill-fame in the Iraq War and invasion of Grenada," said KCNA, adding that South Korean media have also reported about the news.

Meanwhile, the U.S. forces additionally prepared special communication equipment, night-vision goggles, Patriot missiles, precision guided bombs, river-crossing equipment necessary for tunnel combat in a bid to ignite a war against the DPRK at any cost, said KCNA.

The United States and Canada co-hosted a foreign ministers' meeting of former U.S. allies which participated in the 1950-53 Korean War, as well as South Korea and Japan, in Vancouver this week to discuss how to block maritime channels of the DPRK with the outside world.

The DPRK has condemned the meeting, saying it aimed at aggravating the situation on the Korean Peninsula, when inter-Korean relations are showing signs of detente with Pyongyang agreeing to join Seoul in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics next month.