South Korea’s foreign minister said Thursday his government is willing to talk with North Korea about food aid to the communist country.

Relations between the two Koreas worsened after South Korea’s new conservative government was inaugurated in February with a pledge to take a tougher line on the North, which subsequently said it would stop asking for help from the South, previously a key donor.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told reporters Thursday that his country “intends to hold direct talks with North Korea if there is such an opportunity,” according to his ministry. Yu did not elaborate.

However, ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said the South Korean government will maintain its position that it will provide aid to North Korea only if the North requests it.

The North’s food situation has worsened this year due to last year’s devastating floods that destroyed more than 11 percent of the country’s crops.

The country has resorted to international assistance to feed its 23 million people since the mid-1990s due to natural disasters and mismanagement. The U.N. has warned that North Korea urgently needs outside aid to avert a worse humanitarian disaster.

Kim Ho-nyeon, a spokesman at the South Korean Unification Ministry, said his ministry has been studying various ways to provide food aid to North Korea, including assistance through an international organization. However, he also said the food aid will not be made unless the North makes a formal request for it.

The U.S. government has said it is considering resuming food aid to North Korea, saying it views humanitarian aid as a separate issue from the North Korean nuclear standoff. A U.S. delegation visited the North earlier this month to discuss food aid.

The U.N. World Food Program warned last month that North Korea faces a food crisis, saying the country’s annual food deficit is expected to nearly double from 2007 to 1.83 million tons. The agency estimated 6.5 million people were short of food, and said that number could rise if shortages are not addressed.