Some U.S. officials to stay in N. Korea longer than scheduled

SEOUL (Yonhap) - Some of the U.S. officials set to travel to North Korea this week plan to stay in the communist country longer than originally scheduled because they seek to check out food shortages in more remote areas, sources here said Tuesday.
The officials, led by Robert King, special American ambassador on North Korean human rights, are set to fly into Pyongyang via Beijing later Tuesday on a fact-finding mission that comes as North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is in China for lessons on economic development.
Diplomatic sources in Seoul said King is scheduled to leave North Korea on Saturday while some members of his team will stay there until next Thursday or so for a deeper look into food shortages reported to be serious in the impoverished nation, home to 24 million people.
"The team will operate in different groups," one source said, adding the delegation includes an official from the United States Agency for International Development.
During the five-day stay, King, who has never been granted access into the North, is expected to meet with senior foreign ministry officials. His trip has been described by the State Department as purely aimed at assessing food shortages there.
U.S. food aid to the North was suspended in March 2009 amid heightened tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests, and controversy over the transparency of food distribution.
Washington pledged in 2008 to provide 500,000 tons of food, but delivered only 169,000 tons before the shipments were suspended.
The United Nations earlier this year 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 in early April.
South Korea appears to be less willing to resume food aid as critics say North Korea is exaggerating its food shortages to hoard food in preparation for the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-