N. Korea sees more humanitarian aid

PYONGYANG, North Korea, June 30 (UPI) -- International aid workers began visiting North Korea Monday after they were given access to the country's remote areas, the U.N. food agency said.

The brigade included a U.S. freighter of humanitarian aid, The New York Times reported. In addition, the country extended invitations to 50 international relief experts from the United Nation's World Food Program and a consortium of U.S relief agencies after progress was made in ending the country's nuclear program.

North Korea's openness comes as the country heads toward a major food crisis, the Times said. Two years of bad harvests and rising grain prices make it harder for the poorer North Korea to import food. Bilateral assistance from South Korea and China also is lower.

"To some degree, this agreement is part of a greater openness by North Korea and that certainly is demonstrated in this agreement," Paul Risley, a WFP spokesman, told the Times.

Meanwhile, North Korea rejected a South Korean offer to ship 50,000 tons of corn, the Seoul government said on Monday.

When he took office in February, the conservative South Korea President Lee Myung-bak suspended delivery of 500,000 tons of rice his predecessors sent to the North annually.