By Jack Kim and Kaori Kaneko

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

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

“The test firing is an appropriate military action that fully serves the purpose of informing rivals, who have recently intentionally escalated the regional situation and posed a threat to the security of our Republic, of our willingness to counterattack,” Kim said. , quoted by the newspaper. by KCNA.

The show of force comes amid a storm of international condemnation and growing alarm over what the United States and others say is the deployment of 11,000 North Korean troops to Russia, 3,000 of them near Western front lines. with Ukraine.

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

A day earlier, Seoul reported signs that North Korea could launch an intercontinental ballistic missile or conduct a seventh nuclear test around the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday, seeking to draw attention to its growing military prowess.

Shin Seung-ki, head of research on North Korea’s military at the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analysis, said the launch would likely test the improved performance of the booster of an existing ICBM, possibly with help from Russia. .

“North Korea will want to continue receiving aid like this, because it saves time and costs while improving performance and improving the stability of the weapons system,” he said.

Having been pressured for his engagement with Russia, “the intention may be to show that he will not give in to pressure, that he will respond to force with force and also seek some influence in the US presidential election,” Shin added.

NEW RECORDS

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

KCNA said the test set new records for its missile capabilities.

The missile took off on a very high trajectory from an area near the North Korean capital and landed about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Japan’s Okushiri island, off Hokkaido.

It reached an altitude of 7,000 kilometers and flew a distance of 1,000 kilometers, the Japanese government said.

The so-called elevated trajectory of a projectile flying at a very high angle is intended to test its thrust and stability at much shorter distances relative to the designed range, partly for safety and to avoid the political consequences of sending a missile too far inland. of the Pacific. .

North Korea’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile, called Hwasong-18, was tested in December last year. Powered by solid propellant and fired from a road launcher, it was also launched at a very high angle and flew for 73 minutes, translating into a potential range of 15,000 km (9,300 mi) on a normal trajectory.

That’s a distance that puts any part of the continental 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 Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia on Wednesday questioned 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.

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, intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarines with ballistic missiles. and military reconnaissance satellites.

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