The World Food Program says it has made progress with North Korea in negotiations on food aid.

In a Thursday interview with Yonhap News Agency, the ageny's spokesman in Beijing Gerald Bourke cited good progress in the talks but declined to disclose details, saying further negotiations will come soon.

He said WFP Senior Deputy Executive Director Jean-Jacques Graisse returned to the agency's headquarters in Rome after a three-day visit to Pyongyang.

The U.N. agency suspended food aid to the North in December last year after Pyongyang asked for a switch to developmental assistance.

WFP Executive Director James Morris said failure to reach agreement on the food aid's resumption will lead to the withdrawal of aid agencies from the North.