The U.S. State Department has confirmed that it is considering sending Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues Robert King to North Korea.

Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner told reporters that the U.S. may send King to assess the need for food assistance to the North, saying that such assessment is a part of any food assistance program that Washington would implement. The spokesman also stressed that Washington takes issues regarding food assistance to the North “very seriously.”

Toner said the U.S.’s food assistance program is done in a very objective fashion and is divorced from any other policy concerns. He added that it’s consistent with Washington’s desire to provide humanitarian assistance where it’s needed.

The spokesman noted that U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth said Tuesday that South Korea and the U.S. have reached “a common view" on Pyongyang's request for food aid.