South Korea on Thursday rejected what it branded as "incomprehensible" demands after Pyongyang laid out conditions for the resumption of its dialogue with Seoul and Washington amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Analysts said North Korea's move to list preconditions for negotiation could give all sides a break after months of mounting tension, even though it does not mark any policy changes.

The North's National Defense Commission said in a statement carried by the official Korea Central News Agency that UN Security Council sanctions imposed after the country's third nuclear test must first be dropped as they were "fabricated with unjust reasons."

"The denuclearization of the Korean peninsula can begin with the removal of the nuclear war tools dragged in by the US and it can lead to global nuclear disarmament," it added.

It also urged South Korea and the US to end their joint military drills and guarantee that such "nuclear war games" will never be repeated.

But Pyongyang's demands were swiftly dismissed by Seoul.

"North Korea's argument is totally incomprehensible. It is illogical," the Yonhap news agency quoted South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young as saying.

"North Korea's statements can be seen as a positive sign though it will not be accepted by South Korea and the US, as this is first time in months that Pyongyang did not respond to international appeal for dialogue with war rhetoric and further ratcheting up tension," said Su Hao, director of the Asia-Pacific Research Center at the China Foreign Affairs University.

North Korea's diplomatic overtures came after months of an escalating exchange of saber-rattling between Pyongyang and the allied US-South Korean forces.

There was also initial speculation last week that North Korea might launch its untested mid-range missiles to show off its military might.

But Washington struck a conciliatory tone Monday as US Secretary of State John Kerry said that Washington is ready for "authentic" talks.

Analysts, however, are sounding a cautious note over the possibility of defusing regional tension in the near term.

The US and South Korea also have stipulated preconditions for engagement with North Korea, but Pyongyang must first abandon its nuclear armaments, a demand that has been repeatedly rejected by the North, Zhang Liangui, a specialist in Korean issues at the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC, told the Global Times.

"And it is also too early to say that Pyongyang has given up its missile launch plans," Su said, noting that North Korea's previous missile and nuclear tests all proved to be unpredictable.

Agencies contributed to this story