A top U.S. envoy say progress was made in negotiations with North Korean officials on details of a plan to supply 240,000 tons of U.S. food aid to the communist nation. Robert King, the special envoy for human rights in North Korea, spoke to reporters after Wednesday's talks in Beijing.
The talks could clear the way for the first U.S. food assistance to North Korea in three years. Last week, Washington announced an agreement under which North Korea agreed to freeze its nuclear and missile tests, and allow the return of United Nations nuclear inspectors, in return for food aid. Washington suspended its aid in 2009 after Pyongyang expelled U.S. food monitors amid concerns the food was being diverted to North Korea's military or political elite.