North Korea offered Saturday 100,000 U.S. dollars in aid to the Chinese government to help people in the quake-stricken region.

While meeting with Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming, North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun expressed deep condolences of the Workers' Party of Korea and the North Korean government over life and property losses in China's quake-hit Sichuan province.

The North Korean people took the distress the Chinese people had suffered as their own, Pak said. He wished that the Chinese people, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), would overcome the disaster and rebuild their homes at an early date.

Liu appreciated the help the North Korean government has offered, saying what particularly impressed him was that North Korean gave aid to the Chinese people when the country itself was in economic difficulties.

Some institutions and social organizations of North Korean, including the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, the Central Committee of North Korean-China Friendship Association, the Central Committee of the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League, also have sent messages of sympathy to their Chinese counterparts, the official news agency KCNA reported.

The death toll from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in China's southwestern Sichuan province rose to 28,881 nationwide as of 2 p.m. (0600 GMT) Friday, while the rescue headquarters feared the ultimate figure might top 50,000.

(Xinhua News Agency May 18, 2008)