Washington ? The White House on Tuesday signaled that it will accept a North Korean offer to hold security talks with Pyongyang for the first time in 18 months.

“We anticipate these talks will begin,” said White House press secretary Ari Fleischer.

He noted that the U.S. offer to North Korea to resume the talks has been on the table since June.

President Bush had proposed talks without preconditions “to address a broad range of the United States’ concerns with regard to North Korea’s missile program and exports” and other security issues.

The North Korean offer, relayed through Pyongyang’s U.N. mission, proposed that the discussions be held in the North Korean capital.

The administration has said it would be willing to meet with North Korea any time, any place.

The administration has seemed eager to resume talks despite Bush’s statement in January that North Korea is part of an “axis of evil.”

North Korea had indicated weeks ago during a meeting with a South Korean envoy that it was interested in resuming the discussions. The administration had said it would withhold comment until it heard directly from the North Koreans.

When the talks begin, Jack Pritchard, a State Department Korea expert, is expected to lead the U.S. delegation.

The Clinton-era talks focused mainly on a proposed deal under which North Korea would curb its development and export of missiles in exchange for economic benefits from the United States.

Also Tuesday, the United Nations said it would stop distributing food to more than 1 million children and elderly in North Korea because of a shortfall in international aid, sparking fears of a worsening humanitarian crisis in the country.

In November, the United Nations appealed for $258 million so U.N. agencies and international relief organizations could respond to the most urgent needs in North Korea, but to date just $23.5 million has been pledged, Kenzo Oshima, the U.N.’s undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said.