Washington: The United States said it intends to send 500,000 tonnes of emergency food aid to North Korea over the next year following a deal with Pyongyang that allows broad monitoring of deliveries.

It said the two sides "have reached an understanding on the parameters of a program for the resumption of US food assistance for the North Korean people," adding it will begin deliveries in June.

In a statement, the US Agency for International Development said about 400,000 tonnes will be distributed by the World Food Program and about 100,000 tonnes via US non-government organisations.

The two sides agreed on a "framework to allow WFP and NGO staff broad geographic access to populations in need and the ability to effectively monitor the distribution of US commodities," it said.

The kinds of food to be distributed will be determined by a joint assessment conducted over the next few weeks, the statement said.

Experts will meet in the North Korean capital Pyongyang "in the near future" to work out operational matters and the launch of the aid.

"Premised on a successful outcome of those discussions, the US will deliver a first shipment in June in light of the urgency of North Korea s food shortfall," it said.

A US think tank, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, warned this month that North Korea is at risk of outright famine -- 10 years after up to one million of its people died of starvation.

Chronic food shortages worsened this year due to soaring grain prices, crop damage following floods last summer and dwindling foreign donations.

Source : PTI