\u201cA US aircraft carrier and other warships did not sail towards North Korea\u201d
\nThe US Navy said that the Carl Vinson strike group was travelling to the Korean peninsula amid tensions over Pyongyang\u2019s nuclear ambitions.
\nLast week President Trump said an \u201carmada\u201d was being sent.
\nBut the group was actually farther away over the weekend, moving through the Sunda Strait into the Indian Ocean.
\nThe US military\u2019s Pacific Command said on Tuesday that it had cancelled a port visit to Perth, but had completed previously scheduled training with Australia off its northwest coast after departing Singapore on 8 April.
\nThe strike group was now \u201cproceeding to the Western Pacific as ordered\u201d.
\nIt is not clear whether the failure to arrive was a deliberate deception, perhaps designed to frighten North Korea\u2019s leader Kim Jong-un, a change of plan or simple miscommunication, the BBC\u2019s Korea correspondent Stephen Evans says.
\nEither way, US Vice-President Mike Pence was undeterred as he spoke aboard the USS Ronald Reagan – an aircraft carrier docked in Japan – during his tour of the region, vowing to \u201cdefeat any attack and meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with an overwhelming and effective American response\u201d.
\nNorth Korea and the US have ratcheted up tensions in recent weeks and the movement of the strike group had raised the question of a pre-emptive strike by the US.
\nOn Wednesday, Mr Pence described the country as the \u201cmost dangerous and urgent threat to peace and security\u201d in the Asia-Pacific.
\nHis words came after the North held a show of military might in a parade over the weekend and tested another missile on Sunday, which blew up almost immediately after launch, the Pentagon said.
\nThe US also accused North Korea of trying to \u201cprovoke something\u201d, with US Defence Secretary James Mattis calling the test a reckless move on Tuesday.
\nHe said the US was \u201cworking closely\u201d with China to engage North Korea.
\nPyongyang said it may test missiles on a weekly basis, and warned of \u201call-out war\u201d if the US takes military action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cA US aircraft carrier and other warships did not sail towards North Korea\u201d The US Navy said that the Carl Vinson strike group was travelling to the Korean peninsula amid tensions over Pyongyang\u2019s nuclear ambitions. Last week President Trump said an \u201carmada\u201d was being sent. But the group was actually farther away over the weekend, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n