The resumption of Japan's food aid to North Korea depends on whether Pyongyang takes constructive steps to clear away international concern over its nuclear and missile development programs, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura reiterated Friday.
His comment came during talks Friday at the Foreign Ministry with Catherine Bertini, executive director of the World Food Program, who visited flood-stricken North Korea earlier this month, a ministry official said.
Citing North Korea's test-firing of a Taepodong missile last August that led to suspension of food aid, Komura told Bertini that Japan earnestly hopes North Korea will respond positively to Japanese concerns, which also include the alleged abduction of Japanese by North Korea, the official said.
While expressing understanding of Japan's sensitive relations with North Korea, Bertini underlined the importance of providing humanitarian aid to dying people in the country, the official said.
The two agreed on the need for North Korea to create an environment in which Japan can resume food aid to the country, the ministry official said.
North Korea's grain harvest is likely to drop sharply this year because of recent torrential rains that severely damaged crops.
Along with a toll on human life, floodwaters inundated an estimated 50,000 hectares of rice paddies and thousands of houses and public buildings.
The WFP has issued an emergency appeal for 580,000 tons of food, worth $260 million, in the form of rice, pulse, sugar and other cereals. So far, donors have pledged about half the amount, the official said.
The WFP is a United Nations organization that provides food to sustain victims of man-made and natural disasters and improve the nutrition and quality of life of the world's most vulnerable people.