N. Korea wants U.S. food aid

North Korea accused the United States of using food aid as a political tool Wednesday but did not shut the door to a possible deal, political observers said. The official Korean Central News Agency said U.S. negotiators have offered to ship humanitarian aid and lift economic sanctions if North Korea halts its uranium-enrichment program. North Korea is in the midst of a food crisis and the ability to distribute more food to a hungry public is seen as a key test of Kim Jong Un's new leadership, The New York Times reported. Kim has been consolidating his power as supreme commander of the North Korean People's Army and the military is resistant to the idea of giving up North Korea's nuclear weapons program in return for outside aid, the newspaper said. U.S. and North Korean negotiators met in China last month, just days before the death of Kim's father Kim Jong II. Talks later continued with diplomats in New York. A North Korean spokesman said the two sides have been talking about completing a 2008 American promise to ship 500,000 tons of grain to North Korea. That program was halted in 2009 because of U.S. concerns about the transparency of distribution and North Korea's nuclear weapons program. North Korea said it wants the remaining 330,000 tons of grain while the United States has offered to ship nutritional supplements for children over concerns the grain is going to North Korea's military rather than hungry children, the Times said.