U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged North Korea to improve ties with South Korea.

After holding talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan in Washington, Clinton and Kim held a joint news conference. She also said during the conference that Washington has made no decision about providing food aid to North Korea at this time.

She said any such decision must be based on "legitimate humanitarian needs, competing needs elsewhere around the world and U.S. ability to ensure and monitor that whatever food aid is provided actually reaches the people who are in need."

She said Pyongyang must address serious concerns about monitoring before the U.S. can consider any decision.

Meanwhile, Minister Kim said North Korea must in some way or another address the issue of its provocations against South Korea last year including the torpedoing of the Cheonan naval vessel and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.

Kim and Clinton agreed to ratify the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement in their respective parliaments this summer. They also agreed to boost cooperation in international development aid policies.

The two sides will open trilateral foreign ministerial talks with Japan sometime in August to reaffirm their cooperation on North Korea.