In response to an appeal by the World Food Program, the United States has pledged 50,000 tons of food aid to North Korea. In a press conference on Wednesday, U.S. State Department Spokesman Adam Ereli said the main objective of the food donation is to help the North Korean people.

The spokesman stressed that Washington's food aid to Pyongyang has nothing to do with ongoing efforts to lure North Korea back to the multilateral dialogue table. The White House reiterated that standpoint. "We've been a big supplier of food to the North Korean people and as the president has said, he does not believe food should be used as a diplomatic weapon."

But Washington said it was concerned whether the food is getting to the right people who need it. Although there have been improvements in efforts to monitor the distribution of food aid, Washington plans to call for maximum access and freedom to ensure that starving people are receiving proper assistance.

The donation came after the UN food agency warned that North Korea may be facing its worst food crisis since a famine in the 1990s, which is believed to have killed between two to three million North Koreans.

The U.S. sent 50,000 tons of food aid to North Korea last year and 100,000 tons the year before, making it one of the largest single providers of food aid to the communist country.

Arirang TV