A U.S. expert on Korean Peninsula affairs says strict monitoring standards must accompany any future food aid to North Korea.

Dorothy Stuehmke, who was the senior advisor to the U.S.-North Korea food aid program in 2008 and 2009 for the U.S. Agency for International Development, made the remark in an article she contributed to the Los Angeles Times on Thursday.

Stuehmke said as the U.S. deliberates whether to restart a food aid program to the North, it must consider where there is a true humanitarian need and whether the U.S. can address the potential risk of food diversion. Stuehmke also said Washington must consider whether a properly monitored program would allow the U.S. to engage with the vulnerable citizens of one of the most isolated countries in the world.

Stuehmke said in the event that negotiations for another food aid program with North Korea resume, the Obama administration is justified in requiring that Pyongyang adhere to strong monitoring standards. She also proposed that people who speak Korean be permitted in North Korea to supervise and administer the program.

Stuehmke also served in the Office of Korean Affairs at the U.S. Department of State from 2006 to 2008.