Trump extends deployment of N Korea ‘armada’
Flotilla is now heading towards rogue state, insists the White House, after previous erroneous reports
The deployment of a flotilla sent by Donald Trump to confront North Korea has been extended for a month, as Pyongyang unveiled a propaganda video appearing to show missiles blowing up a US city. The commander of the USS Carl Vinson said the flotilla would spend another 30 days at sea.
‘Trump likes to brag. Regardless of fact, he tends to make a show of his power to intimidate others first’
THE deployment of an aircraft carrier group that was sent by Donald Trump to confront North Korea has been extended for a month, it was announced yesterday, as Pyongyang unveiled a propaganda video of missiles blowing up a city in the US.
The commander of the USS Carl Vinson strike group said the flotilla will spend another 30 days at sea, following confusion over whether the group had been heading towards North Korean waters.
The White House appeared to blame defence officials for erroneously suggesting that the aircraft carrier group was immediately diverted to the Korean peninsula after it left Singapore on April 8. The US defence ministry acknowledged on Tuesday that the ships had actually travelled into the Indian Ocean to carry out manoeuvres with Australian forces, and only began their journey north recently.
Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said: “We said it was heading there. It was heading there and it is heading there.
“All other questions should be asked of the ministry of defence.”
The extended deployment was announced by Admiral James Kilby, the strike group’s commander, on its Facebook page.
“Our mission is to reassure allies and our partners,” the naval officer said.
Growing concern in Asia over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions has led to frustration in some quarters over the communication mix-up regarding the strike group. “We are sending an armada. Very powerful,” Mr Trump assured the region last week.
But Hong Joon-pyo, the South Korean presidential candidate, told the Wall Street Journal that “South Korea will not trust whatever Trump says” if it is proved that he lied over the vessel’s movements.
China’s Global Times newspaper accused the US president and military of creating “fake news”.
“Trump likes to brag,” said the newspaper, which has close links to Beijing’s Communist leaders. “Regardless of fact, he tends to make a show of his power to intimidate others first.”
Washington and Pyongyang have been engaged in a war of words in recent weeks, with tensions rising over concerns that North Korea could carry out a nuclear test, its sixth since 2006.
The rogue regime continued its sabre-rattling yesterday with the release of a mock-up video showing North Korean missiles apparently destroying a US city as Kim Jong-un, the leader, clapped and smiled. The clip, which ends with a burning Stars and Stripes flag superimposed over rows of white crosses in a cemetery, was a backdrop for a music show on Sunday during celebrations for the 105th birthday of the North’s founding father, Kim Il-sung.
Meanwhile, Mike Pence, the US vicepresident, warned that the US mili- tary’s “shield stands guard and sword stands ready” as he visited a naval base in Japan. “North Korea is the most dangerous and urgent threat to the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific”, he told more than 2,500 US and Japanese military personnel on the flight deck of the USS Ronald Reagan as it was moored in the base at Yokosuka.