A U.S. government team arrived in Pyongyang to assess food shortages Tuesday.

The mission, led by its special envoy for DPRK human rights issues, Robert King, will stay in the country for five days to address what it called "appropriate human rights issues," and evaluate a request from the DPRK for food and aid. Two months ago the UN said a quarter of the DPRK's 23 million people were in urgent need of aid. It estimate its distribution system would run out of food between May and June. South Korea says, when it comes to aid, transparency is needed.

Cho Byung-Jae, Spokesman of S. Korean Foreign Ministry, said, "South Korea and the US have to accurately calculate the actual amount of food demand in the DPRK and make sure the food we supply is delivered to the people in need. In other words, we should be fully able to monitor the process and check out the transparency of the demand."

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