A ranking member of the ruling Democratic Party(DP) says the government will deliver 50-thousand tons of food to North Korea next week via international organizations.

DP Representative Sul Hoon revealed Seoul's plan during the party’s Supreme Council meeting held on Friday at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjeom. 

The lawmaker said the North is in desperate need of aid and needs over one-point-45 million tons of food to feed its people this year. He said aid will have to be dispatched no later than September, a period of high demand in the North.

Sul said that although there are critical views among the South Korean public regarding the food aid plan, the government should nonetheless move forward without hesitation.

National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong said in a media briefing earlier this month that the government has confirmed in principle the provision of food aid to the North and was working on ways to implement the plan.