North Korea has rejected the United States' request that the North return to the six-party nuclear talks before the communist regime seeks talks of a peace treaty and sanctions against the North are lifted.

In a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry on Monday, the North said that sanctions, which it claimed caused the disruption of the nuclear talks, must be removed in order to resume the dialogue.

The statement also said that it does not make sense to allow itself to negotiate with countries that violate its sovereignty.

The statement stressed that the North is not opposed to the six-party talks and has no reason to delay them, adding that it will continue to make sincere efforts to persuade its dialogue partners to listen to and accept its realistic proposals.