The United States said today it would provide 500,000 metric tonnes in food aid to North Korea in a sign of improving relations despite their standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear program.
The aid will start next month and be provided over a 12-month period, the statement from the US Agency for International Development said.
It said the two countries had "agreed on terms for a substantial improvement in monitoring" the aid to make sure it went to the intended recipients. Previous aid shipments were suspended over concern the aid was not reaching the right people.
Aid groups say soaring global food prices and reluctance by donors have helped push North Korea close to famine.
Washington will supply 400,000 tonnes via the UN World Food Program (WFP), while US nongovernmental organisations will distribute 100,000 tonnes, the statement said.
No dollar amount was given, because that will depend on shipping costs and commodity prices at the time food is distributed, officials said.
The aid comes as Washington is putting more pressure on North Korea to come up with a declaration of its nuclear activities, part of a broader multilateral deal aimed at getting Pyongyang to abandon all of its nuclear programs in exchange for economic and diplomatic incentives.
A senior US official said the aid was not related in any way to the nuclear issue. U.S. policy is not to use food as a weapon or reward.
The United States was a major provider of food aid to North Korea from 1995 until 2005, when it suspended the assistance after Pyongyang asked representatives of the WFP, through which much of the aid had been channeled, to leave.