SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- A ruling party lawmaker claimed Thursday it is "true" that North Korea has stored at least 1 million tons of rice for its military, reinforcing persistent speculation that the North may divert food aid to the military despite severe food shortages for ordinary people.

   "It is true that the North Korean authorities have stockpiled 1 million tons of rice for the military in case of war, including 300,000 tons for regular forces and 700,000 tons for reserve forces," Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the Grand National Party (GNP) said in a press release.

   Yoon said North Korea has also stored 1.5 million tons of oil and 1.7 million tons of ammunitions for emergencies, adding the information was confirmed by intelligence authorities.

   The press release by Yoon supported a similar claim made by GNP floor leader Kim Moo-sung last September. At that time, Kim said he had secured confirmed information that the North had a reserve of about 1 million tons of rice for the military.

   There was no immediate way to independently verify the claim, but officials in Seoul and Washington have long suspected that North Korea may divert food aid to its armed forces.

   North Korea's food situation has deteriorated, the U.N. World Food Program said in a recent report, adding that about a quarter of North Korea's population of 24 million is in dire need of food.

   Last year, Seoul delivered the first shipment of rice aid to Pyongyang in more than two years before the North shelled the South's Yeonpyeong Island last November, killing four people, including two civilians.

   South Korea had sent some 400,000 tons of rice each year to the North between 2000 and 2007, but the project was stopped in 2008 with President Lee Myung-bak linking any large-scale aid to the North's efforts to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.

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