A US ship carrying thousands of tons of food aid has arrived in North Korea, after it agreed to expanded international assistance for its impoverished people.

The World Food Program, or WFP, said the American ship that arrived on Sunday carried 37-thousand tons of wheat. The aid will be distributed by the United Nations.

The World Food Program insists the aid is not directly related to the ongoing nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang, as the US says it does not use food as a means of diplomatic coercion.

World Food Program Director for Asia-Pacific, Tony Banbury, introduced the improvements in the new agreement to expand international assistance to North Korea.

"Now, under this new agreement we have improved monitoring standards. We are going to reach more people. We have improved access, better ability to ensure that this US contribution is going to the people who need it."

The increased aid comes as the WFP and other groups have issued increasingly dire warnings about the food situation in the Asian country.

The country's regular annual shortages were expected to worsen this year due to floods last summer that decimated the North's agricultural heartland.