USS Carl Vinson wasn’t heading to North Korea as Trump admin originally suggested

A “very powerful” US Navy armada which the Trump administration said was heading towards the Korean Peninsula to deter the North from carrying out a nuclear test was actually carrying out exercises with the Royal Australian Navy thousands of kilometres away in the Indian Ocean, the ABC has confirmed.

Key points:

• Beijing “has the ability” to bring North Korea into position where it’s not threatening neighbours, Turnbull says
• North Korea’s nuclear program threatens Australia, Julie Bishop says
• “We’ll be conducting more missile tests weekly,” North Korean Vice Foreign Minister says

As tensions soared on the Korean Peninsula earlier this month, the US Government said the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier was being dispatched to the Sea of Japan to send a “powerful signal” to North Korea.

The Vinson’s strike group had been scheduled to make port visits to Australia, but on April 8 the US Pacific Fleet announced it would “sail north and report on station in the Western Pacific Ocean after departing Singapore“.

But instead of heading straight towards the Korean peninsula the US strike group instead conducted planned exercises with HMAS Ballarat in the Indian Ocean.

Source: USS Carl Vinson wasn’t heading to North Korea as Trump administration originally suggested – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)