SEOUL, May 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korean and U.S. officials will meet in Washington on Tuesday to discuss humanitarian food assistance to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Monday.

    A South Korean delegation consisting of officials from the ministries of foreign affairs and unification will be briefed about last week's visit to Pyongyang by a U.S. team, Yonhap said.

    The U.S. team stayed in Pyongyang for four days from Monday to discuss the monitoring of food aid distribution and the amount of the food aid the DPRK needs.

    South Korean and U.S. officials will discuss how and when to provide food aid to the DPRK, it said, quoting unnamed South Korean officials.

    Earlier, the U.S. government said to have set aside a budget for providing 500,000 tons of food to the DPRK. However, Washington said it has yet to make a decision on the timing and size of the aid.

    South Korean Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong had said his government was ready to consider providing humanitarian aid to the DPRK upon receiving a request from Pyongyang. However, Seoul has yet to receive any such requests, he added.

    Yonhap said the South Korean government is considering funneling food aid to the DPRK through the World Food Program if there is no request from Pyongyang.