The U.S. government is currently in negotiations with the U.N.’s World Food Program over how many Korean-speaking workers should monitor the distribution of U.S. food aid to North Korean people.

Radio Free Asia said the U.S. wants to increase the number of Korean-speaking monitors at distribution sites and is discussing the issue with North Korea. The discussions have not gone well.

According to the U.S. government-funded broadcaster, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said late last year that one of the key problems is that the WFP doesn’t have a sufficient number of monitors who can speak Korean.

The U.N food aid agency insists that the number of Korean-speaking workers is not important when monitoring the distribution of food.

The WFP also denied media reports that the U.S. is considering halting its provision of food aid to the North through the program.