“U.S. officials have arrived in Beijing to meet with North Korean leaders about whether and how to resume food aid to the isolated and impoverished country, according to State Department officials,” the Washington Post reports (Wan, 12/14). “U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues Robert King and senior U.S. aid official Jon Brause met Thursday with North Korea’s director-general for American affairs, Ri Gun,” and “are to focus on strict monitoring mechanisms should the U.S. decide to give aid,” the Associated Press writes (Bodeen, 12/15).

According to VOA News, “The most recent U.S. aid effort was suspended in early 2009 over North Korea’s resistance to allowing Korean-speaking monitors to observe food distribution” (Gollust, 12/14). “U.S. officials have cautioned that no decision was imminent,” according to Reuters (Wee, 12/15).