The United States has stationed tens of thousands of troops in the South since the conflict ended only in an armistice, leaving the parties still technically at war.

The United States and South Korea have rejected the North's call for early peace talks, saying the communist state must first return to nuclear disarmament talks and show it is serious about scrapping its atomic weapons.

"Without the withdrawal of US troops, no autonomy will be guaranteed for the people of South Korea," said Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North's ruling communist party.

South Koreans should campaign to "uproot US invasion forces from their country and stop joint exercises that cast the shadow of nuclear warfare", it said.

About 28,500 American troops are currently stationed in the South.

The North abandoned the six-party nuclear disarmament talks last April, a month before staging a second nuclear test.

In addition to its call for talks on a peace treaty, Pyongyang is demanding that sanctions be lifted before it returns to the forum grouping the two Koreas, China, the United States, Japan and Russia.

The US State Department has rejected an end to sanctions at this stage.

"We've made clear, going back several months, we're not going to pay North Korea for coming back to the six-party process," a spokesman said this week.

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