The US is considering releasing roughly 66,000 tonnes in additional food aid to North Korea this year as that country faces a winter famine, according to Bush administration officials.
The officials had withheld the aid to protest North Korea's failure to comply with international monitors seeking to ensure that the provisions go to the people who need it.
But given predictions of an imminent humanitarian crisis and a plea for more donations from the UN agency that distributes food aid, the officials said they were rethinking their stance.
"We are still considering whether to provide additional food aid to North Korea through the World Food Program [WFP] under the 2003 appeal," a State Department official said.
The new stance on food aid comes as North Korea continues to defy calls to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. But Bush administration officials said they would not let political differences with North Korea interfere with their decisions on food aid.
The US, which has sent food to North Korea since 1996, has already provided 40,000 tonnes of food to the country this year.
On Thursday, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher chided the North Korean government, saying it was impeding the work of the WFP, a UN agency, which seeks to ensure that food aid is not diverted to the 1-million-strong military or other government organizations.
"I'm holding open the possibility that we'll make a decision between now and the end of the year," Boucher said.
He added that North Korea could improve its prospects for food aid by improving the degree of access by international monitors "even at this late date."
The UN estimates that 13.2 million people are malnourished in North Korea.
"It's critical that we get more food in there," said Trevor Rowe, a WFP spokesman.
"The needs are real. There is a hunger problem. It's affecting everyone from schoolchildren to the elderly," he said.
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