S. Korea, U.S. fine-tune strategy on N.K. food aid

SEOUL, June 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korean officials met with their U.S. counterparts this week to discuss possible food aid to North Korea, sources said Friday, as the U.S. considers resuming food aid to the impoverished communist state.
"Officials from the foreign ministry recently traveled to the U.S. and met with State Department officials to discuss issues related to North Korea," a source said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The South Korean team led by Kim Hong-kyun, the ministry's director-general for the Korean Peninsula Peace Regime Bureau, left for the U.S. on Monday and will return later Friday following meetings with Joseph Donovan, U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and Robert King, special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, the source said.
King traveled to North Korea late last month with a team of officials and experts to assess the food situation and discuss humans rights conditions there. The trip came after North Korea appealed to the U.S. and other countries for food assistance to feed its population of 24 million, which is reportedly suffering from severe food shortages due to floods and a severe winter.
South Korea and the U.S. have been cautious to resume aid after they suspended shipments in recent years over Pyongyang's nuclear programs and controversy surrounding the transparency of food distribution.
This week's consultations came shortly before South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan travels to Washington next week for talks with his U.S. counterpart, Hillary Clinton.
The European Union (EU), meanwhile, concluded its own fact-finding mission in North Korea on Wednesday, two days earlier than planned, according to Japan's Kyodo News agency. The team from the European Commission Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) met with government officials and toured hospitals, schools and individuals households outside Pyongyang, Kyodo said.
The EU is expected to make its own decision on extending food aid to North Korea after consulting with South Korea and the U.S.