WASHINGTON - The United States says it has reached a deal to provide North Korea with 500,000 tonnes of food aid over the coming year.

The Bush administration says the aid is unrelated to its nuclear disarmament deal with Pyongyang. However, both deals have involved unusually intense U.S. diplomacy with a country President George W. Bush once denounced as part of an "axis of evil."

The State Department announced the food agreement after weeks of talks over how the aid would be distributed.

Washington has said it wanted assurances the food won't be diverted or used improperly by the government of Kim Jong Il.

U.S. officials say they can't put an exact price tag on the deal. Much will depend on such variables as the costs of food and shipping, both of which are rising fast.

"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," according to a statement Friday from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The North's food situation has worsened this year due to last year's devastating floods that destroyed more than 11 per cent of the country's crops.

North Korea has resorted to international assistance to feed its 23 million people since the mid-1990s due to natural disasters and mismanagement. The UN has warned that the North urgently needs outside aid to avert a worse humanitarian disaster.

South Korea's foreign minister said Thursday his government is also willing to talk with North Korea about food aid.

Relations between the two Koreas worsened after South Korea's new conservative government was inaugurated in February with a pledge to take a tougher line on the North. Pyongyang subsequently said it would stop seeking help from the South, previously a key donor.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said his country "intends to hold direct talks with North Korea if there is such an opportunity," according to his ministry. Yu did not elaborate.

However, ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said the South Korean government will maintain its position that it will provide aid to North Korea only if the North requests it.

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