N Korea lashes South as Kim praises China’s Xi

North Korea condemned the South yesterday for holding military drills, saying the situation was returning to before the diplomatic rapprochement of 2018, as leader Kim Jong Un -- whose health was the subject of intense speculation in recent weeks -- reached out to traditional ally Beijing. Kim sent Chinese leader Xi Jinping a diplomatic communication congratulating him for China's "success" in controlling the novel coronavirus epidemic, the state news agency KCNA reported. The North has closed its borders to try to protect itself from the disease that first emerged in its giant neighbour, and insists it has not had any cases. Kim told Xi he was as pleased with China's successes as his own, KCNA reported, adding he "sent militant greetings to every member of the Communist Party of China".