A key Liberal Democratic Party panel approved a plan Wednesday to send 500,000 tons of rice as food aid to North Korea, effectively paving the way for an aid program the government hopes will add impetus to normalization talks.

The plan was endorsed at a meeting of the LDP's Foreign Affairs Division in the afternoon and now awaits approval by two other LDP panels, which is expected on Friday.

Later in the day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa said the government hopes the aid will help promote normalization talks with North Korea.