We are ready for war — North Korea says as U.S deploys warship • China deploys 150,000 troops

North Korea has warned the country is ready for war after the U.S. deployed an armada of warships to waters off the Korean Peninsula.

A spokesman for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) foreign ministry condemned the U.S. Navy's order.

'This goes to prove that the U.S. reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase,' he said, the state-run news agency reported, according to AFP.

'The DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S.

'We will hold the U.S. wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions.'

The spokesman said North Korea would respond to the 'provocateurs' with a 'powerful force of arms'.

'We will take the toughest counteraction against the provocateurs in order to defend ourselves by powerful force of arms,' the foreign ministry spokesman said, according to KCNA.

Meanwhile, the Chinese army has reportedly deployed 150,000 troops to the North Korean border to prepare for pre-emptive attacks after the United States dropped airstrikes on Syria.

President Donald Trump's missile strike on Syria on Friday was widely interpreted as a warning to North Korea.

And now China, left shocked by the air strikes, has deployed medical and backup units from the People's Liberation Army forces to the Yalu River, Korea's Chosun.com reported.

The troops have been dispatched to handle North Korean refugees and 'unforeseen circumstances', such as the prospect of preemptive attacks on North Korea, the news agency said.