U.S. to make food aid decision based on apolitical needs assessment: State Dept.

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details at bottom) By Hwang Doo-hyong WASHINGTON, May 17 (Yonhap) -- The United States said Tuesday it has not yet made a decision on providing food aid to North Korea, but reiterated that any decision will be made on humanitarian grounds, not politics. The remarks by State Department spokesman Mark Toner came amid reports that Washington will soon send food to North Korea, suffering from widespread hunger due to floods and a harsh winter. "We've been evaluating the assessments by the World Food Program and other NGOs, but we've made no decision," Toner said at a daily news briefing. "It's important to note that our position on food aid is entirely separate from any political decision we may make or any policy decision we may make vis-a-vis North Korea. Our food assistance program -- and we've made that clear many times from this podium and elsewhere -- is based on a credible, apolitical assessment of the needs and also autonomy over how that food assistance is delivered." On the report that Robert King, U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, will lead a U.S. fact-finding mission to North Korea early next week to assess the food situation there, Toner said, "We expect to make a decision soon about Ambassador King's travel, but at this point we haven't announced anything." Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, currently in Seoul to discuss possible food aid to North Korea and the resumption of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear dismantlement, said Tuesday that Seoul and Washington have "a common view" on food aid to North Korea. Seoul and Washington, the two biggest food donors to the impoverished North, have in recent months discussed possible food shipments, but have yet to reach a conclusion. Media reports say Washington is more favorable to food aid than South Korea. North Korea recently appealed to the U.S. for provisions, suspended two years ago over a lack of transparency in the distribution and mounting tensions after the North's nuclear and missile tests. The United Nations last month appealed for 430,000 tons of food for North Korea to feed 6 million people stricken by floods and severe winter weather. A U.N. monitoring team concluded a fact-finding mission in North Korea early last month. King told a media roundtable last month that the U.S. will consult with South Korea closely in making any decision on food aid to North Korea, but added, "The United States can make an independent decision." South Korean conservatives say North Korea is exaggerating its food shortages in an effort to hoard food in preparation for the 100th anniversary of the birth of its late leader, Kim Il-sung, next April 15. As a condition to providing food and reopening the six-party talks, held last in December 2008, South Korea wants the North to address its grievances over the sinking of a South Korean warship and the shelling of a border island that killed 50 people last year. In an incremental approach toward the nuclear talks' resumption, chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and China recently got together and called on North Korea to have a bilateral nuclear dialogue with South Korea and then another bilateral discussion with the U.S. ahead of any plenary session of the six-party talks. The North has not yet responded to the proposal. Toner, meanwhile, expressed concerns over North Korea's proliferation of missile technology. In response to a U.N. report alleging that North Korea has continued proliferating missiles and their parts to Iran and other countries in violation of international sanctions, Toner said, "The United States does have long-standing concerns about North Korea's missile programs and its efforts to supply the missile-related technology to foreign customers." The U.N. experts' panel monitoring sanctions on North Korea has prepared the report that says Pyongyang has been violating U.N. Security Council resolutions banning development and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The resolutions were adopted after North Korea tested nuclear bombs and test-launched ballistic missiles in 2006 and 2009. The report has not yet been officially released due to opposition from China, North Korea's staunchest communist ally. All 15 Security Council members need to sign it before its release. "We do hope that the Security Council can release the report quickly so that other countries can benefit from the panel's findings and recommendations," Toner said. Iran has denied the report alleging it received missile technology shipments from North Korea through a third country, which diplomats say is China. Tehran insists it has sufficient technology to develop missiles on its own. A similar report by the panel was delayed for six months until November, when China finally gave a green light to its publication. "China today refused to approve the report as the Chinese representative to the experts' panel did not sign it," a diplomat source said. "We've predicted that China will oppose. We still see chances of the 15-member council discussing that further as the report has already been circulated among the council members."