( CNN ) -- North Korea on Monday proposed replacing the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War with a formal peace treaty , a step it said would pave the way for breaking the international impasse over its nuclear program . But the communist state said international sanctions imposed after a series of nuclear weapons and missile tests should be lifted before it returns to the negotiating table , a suggestion the United States quickly dismissed . The cease-fire that ended the three-year Korean War never led to a permanent peace treaty , leaving the North Korean-South Korean border the world 's most heavily militarized frontier . In a statement carried by the official news agency KCNA , North Korea said that a final settlement of the conflict is `` essential '' to talks aimed at persuading it to dismantle its nuclear program . `` When the parties are in the state of war where they level guns at each other , distrust in the other party can never be wiped out , and the talks themselves can never make smooth progress , much less realizing the denuclearization , '' it said . `` Without settling such [ an ] essential and fundamental issue as war and peace , no agreement can escape from frustration and failure as now . '' Pyongyang has refused to return to the talks , which also involve the United States , Russia , China , South Korea and Japan , insisting that it wants to talk directly with the U.S. government . But Washington says it will not lift sanctions or normalize relations with the North until it takes irreversible steps toward dismantling its nuclear program . `` We 're not going to pay North Korea for coming back to the six-party process , '' State Department spokesman P.J . Crowley said Monday .
Armistice ended Korean War in 1953 ; North suggests replacing with treaty . It suggests that such a move would ease return to nuclear talks . Comment: Washington has refused to normalize relations until program dismantled .