U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged North Korea's vice foreign minister that his country should more actively cooperate with U.N. agencies to overcome the hunger crisis.

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Ban made the request in a meeting with North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Pak Gil-yon at the U.N. headquarters in New York. The spokesman said the two discussed the food shortage situation in North Korea and the deadlocked six-way nuclear talks.

Ban stressed the need for North Korea to expand cooperation with U.N. agencies and allow officials from the U.N. and other outside organizations into the nation to assess the food situation and the monitoring of aid distribution.

The U.N. chief and the North Korean vice foreign minister also discussed a food shortage and damage resulting from this summer’s floods in the North. Ban promised to offer more humanitarian aid to the North.