US navy ships head toward Korean peninsula in show of force to North
Strike group includes the Nimitz-class aircraft supercarrier USS Carl Vinson, a carrier air wing, two guided-missile destroyers and a guided-missile cruiser
A US Navy carrier strike group was moving toward the Korean peninsula on Saturday as the United States boosts its defences against North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
“US Pacific Command ordered the Carl Vinson Strike Group north as a prudent measure to maintain readiness and presence in the Western Pacific,” said Commander Dave Benham, spokesman at US Pacific Command.
“The number one threat in the region continues to be North Korea, due to its reckless, irresponsible and destabilising programme of missile tests and pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability,” he said.
The strike group includes the Nimitz-class aircraft supercarrier USS Carl Vinson, a carrier air wing, two guided-missile destroyers and a guided-missile cruiser.
Originally scheduled to make port calls in Australia, it headed instead from Singapore to the Western Pacific Ocean.