U.S. officials say food aid to North Korea has resumed after a two-year suspension in the wake of a new agreement to better monitor its distribution.

The Bush administration has announced plans Friday to ship 500,000 metric tons of food to North Korea in the next year, with the first shipment set for next month, The Washington Times reported. The administration has satisfied its concerns about whether the aid would reach its intended destination of North Koreans in need, the newspaper said.

The two sides have agreed on terms for a substantial improvement in monitoring and access in order to allow for confirmation of receipt by the intended recipients, the U.S. Agency for International Development said in a statement.

The talks to resume food aid came in conjunction with efforts to control North Korea's nuclear program, but administration officials insisted the two issues were not tied together, the Times said, adding that USAID officials said about 400,000 metric tons of food will go to the U.N. World Food Program for distribution, while the remainder will be handled by non-governmental organizations.

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