N. Korea says recent missile launches were simulated attack on South, US

Military drills by Seoul, Washington were provocation, says Pyongyang SEOUL - North Korea said on Monday that its recent missile launches were simulated strikes on South Korea and the United States, as the two countries held a "dangerous war drill", while the South said it had recovered parts of a North Korean missile near its coast.

Last week, North Korea testfired 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 Vigilant Storm exercises were an "open provocation aimed at intentionally escalating the tension" and "a dangerous war drill of very high 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".

The flurry of missile launches included the most in a single day, and come amid a record year of missile testing by the nucleararmed North Korea.

South Korean and US officials have also said that Pyongyang has made technical preparations to test a nuclear device, the first time it will have done so since 2017.

Senior diplomats from the US, Japan and South Korea spoke by phone on Sunday and condemned the 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.