The executive director of the World Food Program said Tuesday in Tokyo that while some restrictions remain, his organization has become slightly freer to monitor the distribution of food aid in North Korea.

"We are required to give several days' notice on where we're going to travel," James Morris told a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. He said monitoring by WFP staff is less restricted in rural areas.

In other recipient countries, WFP workers are able to move freely and stop where they like, including such places as households and institutions, he said.