North Korea welcomes U.S. food aid

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea has welcomed the U.S. decision to provide the impoverished nation with food aid.

The North's Korean Central News Agency said Saturday that the 500,000 tons of food aid would be helpful in addressing in the country's food shortages and would "contribute to promoting the understanding and confidence between the peoples of the two countries.

KCNA also said the North is "ready to provide all technical conditions necessary for the food delivery."

The United States said the aid is unrelated to its nuclear disarmament deal with Pyongyang, although both have involved an unusual intensity of U.S. diplomacy with a nation President George W. Bush once included as part of a rhetorical "axis of evil."

"We don't see any connection," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "We're doing this because America is a compassionate nation and the United States and the American people are people who reach out to those in need."

The United States last provided food aid to North Korea in 2005. Further deliveries fell apart in a dispute over a U.S. demand for close oversight of how the aid would be distributed. The United States wants assurances the food won't be diverted or used improperly by the government of Kim Jong Il.

The new agreement followed weeks of talks over the aid would be monitored.

"The two sides have agreed on terms for a substantial improvement in monitoring and access in order to allow for confirmation of receipt by the intended recipients," according to a statement from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

McCormack said the shipments will begin in June, and will be distributed through the United nations World Food Program and a charity group.

The U.S. said it does not know exactly how much the deal will cost, because prices will depend on such variables as the costs of food and shipping, both of which are rising fast.

The North's food situation has worsened this year due to last year's devastating floods that destroyed more than 11 percent of the country's crops.

The country has resorted to international assistance to feed its 23 million people since the mid-1990s due to natural disasters and mismanagement. The U.N. has warned that North Korea urgently needs outside aid to avert a worse humanitarian disaster.

South Korea's foreign minister said Thursday his government is also willing to talk with North Korea about food aid.

Relations between the two Koreas worsened after South Korea's new conservative government was inaugurated in February with a pledge to take a tougher line on the North, which subsequently said it would stop seeking help from the South, previously a key donor.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said his country "intends to hold direct talks with North Korea if there is such an opportunity," according to his ministry. Yu did not elaborate.

However, ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said the South Korean government will maintain its position that it will provide aid to North Korea only if the North requests it.

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