By Jack Kim and Kaori Kaneko

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) – North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile and developed what it called “the world’s most powerful strategic weapon” on Thursday, as Seoul warned Pyongyang could buy missile technology from Russia to help the war in Ukraine. he explained.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was present and said the test was a warning to enemies who threaten the country’s security, KCNA state news agency said.

“The test firing is an appropriate military operation that fully meets the purpose of informing rivals who have deliberately escalated the regional situation and recently posed a threat to the security of our Republic about our will to counteract,” Kim said. by KCNA.

The muscle-flexing comes at a time of growing international condemnation and alarm over what the United States and others say is North Korea’s deployment of 11,000 troops to Russia; 3,000 of these were near the western fronts with Ukraine.

The launch drew swift condemnation from South Korea, Japan and the United States.

A day earlier, Seoul had reported signs it might test-launch an ICBM or conduct a seventh nuclear test during the US presidential election on Tuesday, in a bid to draw attention to the North’s growing military power.

The launch will test the improved booster performance of an existing ICBM, possibly with Russian help, said Shin Seung-ki, head of research on the North Korean military at the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyzes.

“North Korea would want to continue receiving aid in this way because it would save time and costs while improving performance and improving the stability of its weapons system,” he said.

Shin added that under pressure for his relationship with Russia, “the intention may be to show that he will not bow to pressure, that he will respond strongly to force, and also to try to exert some influence on the US presidential election.”

NEW RECORDS

The launch early Thursday was the North’s longest ballistic missile test, with a flight time of 87 minutes, according to South Korea.

KCNA said the test set new records in missile capabilities.

The missile took off on a sharply ascending trajectory from an area near the North’s capital and crashed about 200 km (125 miles) west of Okushiri island, off Japan’s Hokkaido.

The Japanese government said the plane reached an altitude of 7,000 km and flew a distance of 1,000 km.

The so-called high trajectory of a projectile flying at a sharply elevated angle is intended to test its thrust and stability at much shorter distances than the intended range, partly for safety purposes and to avoid the political consequences of sending a missile into the Pacific. .

North Korea’s last ICBM, called Hwasong-18, was tested in December last year. Fueled by solid fuel and fired from a road launcher, it was also launched at a sharp angle and flew for 73 minutes, corresponding to a potential range of 15,000 km (9,300 mi) in a normal orbit.

This is a distance that puts anywhere in the mainland United States within range.

Pyongyang’s latest test came just hours after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart Kim Yong-hyun met in Washington to condemn the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia.

Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has directly acknowledged the deployment, but Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia on Wednesday wondered why allies such as North Korea could not help Moscow in its war against Ukraine, given that Western countries claim the right to help Kiev. he questioned.

South Korea said the deployment was a direct threat to its security because the North would gain valuable combat experience in a modern war and would likely be rewarded by Moscow with “technology transfers” in areas such as tactical nuclear weapons, ICBMs, ballistic missile submarines, and more. and military reconnaissance satellites.

(Reporting by Jack Kim, Joyce Lee, Kaori Kaneko, Mariko Katsumura in Seoul, Chang-Ran Kim in Tokyo, Phil Stewart and Rami Ayyub in Washington; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)