The United States says it currently has no plans to send government officials or non-governmental organization groups to North Korea to check on the communist state’s food shortage conditions.

State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner only said during a news briefing that Washington is studying the food situation in the North.

Asked if the resignation of U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg would affect Washington’s North Korea policies, Toner said the U.S. will continue to pursue its current policies.