The United States is considering sending a team of inspectors to North Korea to determine the food shortage situation in the impoverished state.

Washington, which has yet to make a final decision on the matter, is mulling sending inspectors following a request made by Pyongyang for food assistance.

Currently, a group of officials from international organizations, including the World Food Program, are conducting on-site inspections on the North’s food conditions. The inspections are expected to conclude around next Tuesday and will reveal whether the North is indeed in need of food aid.

In the event U.S. inspectors visit the North with the purpose of determining the North’s food conditions, it would mark the first time for U.S. government officials to visit the communist state since December 2009.