A senior US official said Saturday that Washington will consult closely with its ally South Korea before deciding whether to restart food aid to impoverished but nuclear-armed North Korea.
Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell denied Washington is pressing to give the North badly needed aid, with Seoul reluctant to see its allies rushing to its communist neighbour with massive food supplies.
"I think we conveyed very clearly to our South Korean friends that we are still in the process of evaluating the situation on the ground and we would continue to consult closely with the South Koreans as we move forward," Campbell told journalists in Seoul.
"We're very closely in consultation and I think we see this issue in very similar terms."
South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Jae-Shin said at the same press conference that Seoul would offer food aid to the North "if it is needed".
"But we have to think about the timing and circumstances," Kim said, adding that Seoul is waiting for details of the evaluation of the North's food situation by the World Food Programme.
The United States in 2008 pledged 500,000 tonnes of rice but shipments stopped the following year amid questions over distribution transparency.
South Korea, which halted an annual 400,000 tonnes of rice in contributions in 2008, began sending emergency aid following last year's floods. It pulled the plug when the North began shelling a border island.
Campbell arrived in Seoul Saturday to discuss what he said was a "joint strategy" about North Korea.
The two allies were seeking to have the UN Security Council issue a presidential statement condemning the North's uranium enrichment programme, which could open a new path for weapons in addition to its plutonium-based weapons.
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