WASHINGTON: A shipment of US food aid is due to arrive in North Korea later this week after rough seas caused a delay, the State Department said Tuesday.

"The next shipment of food aid totaling 21,000 metric tons is now expected to arrive in the DPRK by the end of this week, with its delayed arrival due to recent rough seas," it said in a statement, referring to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"That shipment will also be distributed by the US NGOs (non-government organisations)," the State Department said.

"The United States has not stopped food aid to North Korea," it added.

But it said there was still a problem with North Korea issuing visas for Korean speakers for the UN World Food Program (WFP) portion of the food aid programme, among other technical problems.

"Under the terms of our agreement with the DPRK, there is to be no limit imposed on the Korean language capabilities of the WFP and US NGO staff implementing the food aid programme," it said.

"We remain in dialogue with North Korea on these issues and will continue working with the DPRK to implement the agreed terms of our bilateral food aid agreement," the statement said.

"We continue to support the US-DPRK food aid programme and are committed to the well-being of the North Korean people," it added.

In May 2008, US officials announced that over the year some 400,000 tonnes of food aid would be distributed via the WFP and about 100,000 tonnes via US NGOs.

The State Department said more than 143,000 metric tonnes of US wheat, corn, and soybeans was delivered to North Korea in 2008.

The food aid, funded by the US Agency for International Development's office of Food for Peace, is the first US food assistance programme for North Korea since 2000.

UN agencies warned last month that nearly nine million North Koreans, 40 per cent of the population, urgently need food aid to make up for an expected shortfall in the cereal harvest.

- AFP/yb