The United States has provided virtually no assistance since early 2009, though episodically there have been discussions about resuming large-scale food aid. Additionally, the Obama Administration, like the George W. Bush Administration, has said that it would be willing to provide "significant" energy and economic assistance to North Korea if Pyongyang takes steps to irreversibly dismantle its nuclear program. However, due to the deterioration in U.S.-North Korea relations, at the time of this writing there is little likelihood the Obama Administration will provide assistance to North Korea in the near future. From July 2007 to April 2009, the United States provided technical assistance to North Korea to help in the nuclear disablement process. North Korea again tested a nuclear device in February 2013. As discussed in the U.S. Food Assistance section below, Members of Congress have a number of tools they could use to influence the implementation of future aid programs with North Korea. According to the WFP and the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, in 2013, an improved harvest appeared to reduce North Korea's chronic grain shortfall to some of the lowest levels since the 1990s. The fact that as of March 2014, such South Korean government aid has been relatively small-scale and has not been provided directly to North Korea may be a factor in U.S. support for South Korea's policy. U.S. Energy Assistance

		Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO)

From 1995 to 2002, the United States provided over $400 million in energy assistance to North Korea under the terms of the U.S.-North Korean 1994 Agreed Framework, in which the DPRK agreed to halt its existing plutonium-based nuclear program in exchange for energy aid from the United States and other countries. The United States, China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia also stated their "willingness to provide energy assistance to the DPRK." In separate committee actions, House and Senate appropriators rejected these requests, in large part due to North Korea's withdrawal from the Six-Party process and subsequent missile and nuclear tests in the spring of 2009. Since the 2009 tests, Congress has specifically prohibited energy assistance to North Korea. Congress and Denuclearization Assistance

The last time the Obama Administration requested funds specifically for denuclearization work in North Korea was in the FY2009 Supplemental Appropriations Request: $47 million for the State Department's Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund (NDF) "to support dismantlement of nuclear facilities in North Korea" and $34.5 million for Department of Energy (DOE). Since then, funding requests for NDF have not referenced North Korea. Pyongyang has resisted making economic reforms that would help pay for food imports or increase domestic production, as well as the political reforms that would allow for a more equitable distribution of food. Additionally, the North Korean government restricts the ability of donors to monitor shipments of aid. Multiple sources have asserted that a sizeable amount of the food assistance going to North Korea is routinely diverted for resale in private markets or other uses. In a February 2014 report, a United Nations Commission of Inquiry on North Korea's human rights conditions stated that the North Korean government "has used food as a means of control over the population." North Korea's rulers, according to the Commission, by "knowingly causing prolonged starvation" were found to have committed to crimes against humanity. In part because of the North Korean government's unwillingness or inability to ensure a more equitable distribution of food, some contend that it is likely that food aid has helped feed millions of North Koreans who may not otherwise have had sufficient access. According to this line of reasoning, food aid possibly staved off a repeat of the famine conditions that existed in the mid- to late 1990s. North Korea then began asking outside donors—including the United States and South Korea—for additional aid. Options and Considerations for Future Food Aid to North Korea

Along the spectrum of continuing the status quo (i.e., no food aid) and providing food without any conditions, the Administration and Congress face a number of options and considerations when deciding whether and how to resume food aid to North Korea, including the following:
Establish explicit "diplomatic" linkages by conditioning food aid on progress in security-related talks, such as negotiations regarding the North's nuclear programs. Park Geun-hye's government has indicated that it is willing to provide humanitarian assistance to the North Korean people regardless of the diplomatic situation.
Between 1995 and 2008, the United States provided North Korea with over $1.3 billion in assistance: slightly more than 50% for food aid and about 40% for energy assistance. Since early 2009, the United States has provided virtually no aid to North Korea, though episodically there have been discussions about resuming large-scale food aid. Additionally, the Obama Administration officials have said that they would be willing to consider other types of aid if North Korea takes steps indicating that it will dismantle its nuclear program, a prospect that most analysts view as increasingly remote. As of March 2014, barring an unexpected breakthrough, there appears little likelihood the Obama Administration will provide large-scale assistance of any type to North Korea in the near future. Members of Congress have a number of tools they could use to influence the development and implementation of aid programs with North Korea.
Food Aid. Large swathes of North Korea's population have suffered from chronic malnutrition since the mid-1990s. Food aid—largely from China, South Korea, and the United States—has been essential in filling the gap between North Korea's supply and demand, though since 2009 donations from all countries except China have dwindled to a minimal amount. Observers and activists attribute the North Korea's malnutrition and occasional starvation problems to food shortages—which at times have been massive—and more fundamentally to the unequal distribution of food caused in large measure by the North Korean government's deliberate decisions and policies. In 2013, an improved harvest appeared to reduce North Korea's chronic grain shortfall to some of the lowest levels since the 1990s. Yet outside food groups reported continued malnutrition among vulnerable sectors of the population, especially children. In 2014, a United Nations Commission of Inquiry on North Korea's human rights conditions found that the North Korean government's "act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation" amounted to crimes against humanity.
Providing food to North Korea poses a number of dilemmas. Pyongyang has resisted reforms that would allow the equitable distribution of food and help pay for food imports. The North Korean government restricts the ability of donors to operate in the country. Additionally, multiple sources have asserted that some of the food assistance is routinely diverted for resale in private markets or other uses. However, it is likely that food aid has helped feed millions of North Koreans, at times possibly staving off a repeat of the famine conditions that existed in North Korea in the mid-late 1990s, when 5%-10% of the population died. South Korean President Park Geun-hye's government has indicated that it would be willing to offer North Korea food aid as part of her plan to foster a "new era" in inter-Korean relations. In 2013, the South Korean government donated around $12 million to United Nations humanitarian organizations that supply humanitarian aid, including some food, in North Korea.
Energy Assistance. Between 1995 and 2009, the United States provided around $600 million in energy assistance to North Korea. The aid was given over two time periods—1995-2003 and 2007-2009—in exchange for North Korea freezing its plutonium-related nuclear facilities. In 2008 and 2009, North Korea also took steps to disable these facilities. However, no additional energy assistance has been provided since 2009, when Pyongyang withdrew from the Six-Party Talks—involving North Korea, the United States, China, Japan, and Russia—over North Korea's nuclear program. The move followed condemnation and sanctions by the U.N. Security Council for North Korea's April 2009 launch of a suspected long-range missile and May 2009 test of a nuclear device.
Denuclearization Assistance. In 2007 and 2008, the United States gave technical assistance to North Korea's nuclear disablement process. In 2008, Congress took steps to legally enable the President to give expanded assistance for this purpose. However, following North Korea's actions in the spring of 2009, Congress rejected the Obama Administration's requests for supplemental funds to use in case of a return to denuclearization. Since then, Congress has not approved and the administration has not requested any funds for denuclearization since North Korea has not agreed to return to the nuclear disarmament process.