The communist nation has also asked the U.N. food agency to close its office in Pyongyang and withdraw its agents monitoring where the aid is used, Seoul's largest Chosun Ilbo daily said. Munhwa Ilbo newspaper also cited international relief agents as saying that they were told to leave North Korea by the end of this year.

Instead, North Korea wants more food aid from its communist ally China and South Korea which has conducted less monitoring efforts, the reports said.

South Korea's government officials confirmed the reports, saying they are seeking to know why North Korea has made the decision despite its chronic food shortage. "The North's move seemed part of efforts to win outside aid for development and restoration rather than food donations," a government official said.

"I understand the North has requested that the World Food Program to change the focus of its aid from emergency food supplies to development and restoration projects," he said. "The WFP and North Korea are discussing the matter," the official said.

"International relief agencies have usually changed its assistance method to development and restoration after providing emergency food aid for two or three years," he said. "But North Korea has been given WFP food aid for 10 years."

The WFP has fed millions of North Koreans since 1995, worth $2 billion. But food donations from the U.N. agency have been sharply decreased since 2000 when it supplied 2.1 million tons. Its donations were reduced to 890,000 tons last year. This year's donations remain 100,000 tons.

Analysts in Seoul say the North's move against WFP-led aid reflects its concerns that relief agents' monitoring activities may lead to leaks of its information to the outside world infiltration of foreign culture to the reclusive country.

WFP agents conducted on-the-spot inspections 70 times every month this year to ensure food aid was reaching those in need.

"North Korea has been benefited from outside aid, but wants to avoid its people's contacts with foreign relief agents," said Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Seoul's Korea University.

Keeping isolation of its people from outside information is vital to maintaining the personality cult for North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il, he said. Influx of outside information could damage the decades-long cult worship which has played a key role in keeping the troubles country afloat, despite the global collapse of communism.

Other analysts say Pyongyang wants to drive a wedge in the U.S.-South Korean coordination in offering food aid to North Korea as its food situations are improving thanks to Seoul's massive aid.

South Korea has provided massive food aid to North Korea without intensive monitoring activities, believing it would help ease tensions on the divided Korean peninsula and boost its leverage in dealing with the defiant North.

South Korea began providing North Korea with food aid by shipping 150,000 tons of rice in 1995. It sent 400,000 tons to the North last year.

Seoul made on-the-spot monitoring just 10 times last year and 20 times this year when it gave 500,000 tons, more than half of the North's food shortages estimated at 890,000 tons, according to Seoul's government-run Korea Rural Economic Institute.

But the WFP and the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea has recently called for South Korea to refrain from directly donating food to the North, citing lacks of its efforts to monitor aid distribution in the reclusive nation.

In its report, the committee said that North Korea was abusing international food aid and that outside assistance was not reaching those who need help. The committee also said between 25 and 30 percent of the food aid going into North Korea is being diverted, flowing into a market where the needy are forced to buy or barter for provisions.

"That's why we place so much emphasis on getting South Korea into the WFP. Then you would have South Korea strengthening the attempt by the WFP to bring more transparency and nondiscrimination in relief efforts," it said.

South Korean dismissed the claim by the U.S. human rights group. "The government is fully aware that it is the most important to have the food aid reach those in need," the Unification Ministry said in a statement.

It vowed to press ahead with aid package to the North as it called for the National Assembly to allocate 1 trillion won ($976 million) for inter-Korean cooperation fund, up from 500 billion ($488 million) this year.

But the United States has vowed to step up efforts to ensure the transparency in distribution of food aid and link U.S. food aid to human rights abuse in the North.

"I think consistent with what the president's overall approach is on human rights, and bringing North Korea directly into the community of nations, we have to take a look at all different areas of our relationship," said Jay Lefkowitz, U.S. President George W. Bush's envoy on North Korean human rights.

Kwon Tae-jin, a researcher at the Korea Rural Economic Institute, said South Korea should closely cooperate with the WFP in providing food aid to the North to win more international aid for starving North Koreans while ensuring the transparency in distribution.

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