U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues Robert King says in the event the United States decides to provide food aid to North Korea it would not send rice.

During a hearing of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Thursday, King said the kinds of food the U.S. would provide would be those less desirable for the elite and the military.

He said Washington would focus on some kind of a nutrition program that would provide other kinds of food that would be harder for the North to divert to the military.

King said the U.S. is holding close consultations with neighboring countries on the provision of food aid to North Korea.