IN BRIEF (Page 12)

China

Beijing willing to help Pyongyang

China said on Thursday that it is willing to provide aid to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which is suffering from a drought. "Our sympathy goes to the DPRK that is suffering from an extremely serious drought, and it is our hope that the government and people of the DPRK will overcome the disaster as soon as possible," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.