SEOUL: According to North Korea, recently launched missiles were simulated strikes on both South Korea and the United States, which held a "dangerous war drill", while South Korea said it recovered parts of a missile.

Last week, North Korea test-fired multiple missiles, including a possible failed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and hundreds of artillery shells into the sea, as South Korea and the United States carried out six-day air drills that ended on Saturday.

The North's military said the "Vigilante Storm" exercises were an "open provocation aimed at deliberately escalating tensions" and a "dangerous war exercise of a highly aggressive nature".

The North's army said it had conducted activities simulating attacks on air bases and aircraft, as well as a major South Korean city, to "smash the enemies' persistent war hysteria".

South Korean and US officials say it is the first time Pyongyang has made technical preparations for a nuclear test since 2017.

Senior diplomats from the United States, Japan and South Korea spoke by phone on Sunday and condemned recent tests, including the "reckless" launch of a missile that landed off South Korea's coast last week, according to a US State Department statement.

A South Korean ship has recovered debris believed to be part of a North Korean short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) and is analyzing it, an official at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Monday. North Korean ballistic missile lands near South Korean sea for the first time

North Korea's military said on Nov. 2 that it fired two "strategic" cruise missiles into waters off Ulsan, South Korea, a southeastern coastal city that houses a nuclear power plant and large factory parks.

South Korean officials disputed that claim, saying no such thing had happened.

Analysts said some of the photos released by North Korean state media seemed to be recycled from launches earlier in the year.

The photos released by state media appear to show a new type or variant of the ICBM that has not been reported before, analysts said.

"It's not clear in their statement, but it doesn't match the design we've seen before," said Ankit Panda, a missile expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.