The United States said Wednesday it was donating 50,000 tonnes of food aid to North Korea, but denied it was bait to lure Kim Jong-Il's regime back to stalled nuclear crisis talks. The new donation came in response to a World Food Program (WFP) warning that a new crisis could be looming similar to the famine which devastated North Korea in the 1990s. "The United States will be donating, in response to the WFP appeal, 50,000 metric tonnes of agricultural commodities for North Korea," said State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli.The United Sates supplied 50,000 tonnes of food aid to North Korea in 2004 and 100,000 tonnes the year before -- shipments which made the United States one of the largest single providers of aid to the Stalinist state. Top US officials have always denied that aid is linked to the crisis over North Korea's nuclear program, insisting it is never used to entice the hermetic state back to the negotiating table. "It is not related to the six-party talks; our decisions are made on humanitarian considerations," Ereli said. "It is a humanitarian act based on need." White House spokesman Scott McClellan added: "The president has said, he does not believe food should be used as a diplomatic weapon."
The WFP had recently unveiled new procedures to ensure that food aid reaches those in most need, which if fully implemented could reduce the possibility of unauthorized diversion, a factor that contributed to the US offer, Ereli said. The United States has never had diplomatic relations with North Korea and has been locked in a prolonged standoff with Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons programs. The exact make-up of the aid shipment was being discussed with the WFP but in addition to food, could include tools and seeds, Ereli said.