North Korea ‘ready to strike’ US aircraft carrier Carl Vinson as it heads for Korean peninsula

Pyongyang

North Korea has said it is ready to sink a US aircraft carrier to demonstrate its military might, as two Japanese navy ships joined a US carrier group for exercises in the western Pacific.

US President Donald Trump ordered the carrier strike group to sail to waters off the Korean peninsula in response to rising tension over the North’s nuclear and missile tests, and its threats to attack the United States and its Asian allies. The United States has not specified where the carrier strike group is as it approaches the area.

US Vice-President Mike Pence said on Saturday it would arrive “within days” but gave no other details. The paper likened the aircraft carrier to a “gross animal” and said a strike on it would be “an actual example to show our military’s force”. The commentary was carried on page three of the newspaper, after a twopage feature about leader Kim Jong-un inspecting a pig farm.

North Korea remained defiant. North Korea also warned Australia it could be the target of a nuclear weapons strike if it continued to “blindly” follow the United States. Speaking during a visit to Greece, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said there were already enough shows of force and confrontation at present and appealed for calm.

“We need to issue peaceful and rational sounds,” Mr Wang said, according to China’s Foreign Ministry. Adding to the tensions, North Korea detained a KoreanAmerican man in his 50s, bringing the total number of US citizens held by Pyongyang to three.