South Korea is positively examining North Korea's request for food aid in the wake of the Ryongchon train explosion.

Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said in a weekly briefing session Wednesday that Seoul is giving positive consideration to providing food and construction material to the North.

Ban said he held an unofficial meeting with related ministers to discuss the matter and that the government would announce its final decision Thursday after holding discussions with the de facto ruling Uri Party.

On demands among some newly elected lawmakers to reconsider the nation's troop dispatch to Iraq, Ban said the government's decision on the dispatch is final and that the site for the troop deployment will be finalized at the earliest date possible, following negotiations with related ministries.