US: We didn’t mislead the public over Korea ‘armada’
Naval strike group heads to peninsula after going opposite way
‘Our sword stands ready’
PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s administration yesterday denied being misleading about a US carrier strike group’s push toward the Korean peninsula, saying it never gave an arrival date and that the ships were still on their way. When Trump boasted last week that he had sent an ‘armada’ as a warning to North Korea, the USS Carl Vinson strike group was far from the Korean peninsula, and going in the opposite direction.
The US military’s Pacific Command explained on Tuesday that the strike group first had to complete a shorter-than-initially planned period of training with Australia but was now heading toward the Western Pacific.
‘The president said that we have an armada going towards the peninsula. That’s a fact. It happened. It is happening, rather,’ said White House spokesman Sean Spicer. He referred further queries about the deployment timetable to the Pentagon.
The US military initially said on April 10 that Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of Pacific Command, directed the Vinson strike group ‘to sail north and report on station in the Western Pacific’.
But the strike group first headed elsewhere. On April 15, the US Navy published a photo showing the Vinson on its way to drills with Australia.
Reuters and other news outlets reported on April 11 that the movement would take more than a week. The Navy said it does not report future operational locations of its ships.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis looked to address confusion over the issue yesterday, saying that the alteration in the Vinson’s schedule had been disclosed in the interest of transparency.
‘We are doing exactly what we said we were going to do. She will be on her way,’ he said. The strike group’s commander, Rear Admiral Jim Kirby, said in a Facebook post this week that the deployment had even been extended ‘to provide a persistent presence in the waters off the Korean Peninsula’.
A Trump administration official told Reuters on Tuesday that Washington was concerned about the possibility of some kind of North Korean provocation around the time of the South Korean election on May 9.
Meanwhile, US Vice President Mike Pence warned North Korea yesterday that America’s ‘shield stands guard and the sword stands ready’. It came as footage emerged from the Pyongyang regime showing a mock-up video of its missiles engulfing the US.
Speaking from a US aircraft carrier in Japan, Mr Pence urged Kim Jong-un not to test America’s military resolve, saying it would give an ‘overwhelming and effective’ response to any use of nuclear or conventional weapons.
However, as China expressed new concern not only over North Korea’s nuclear programme but also with the rising tension in the region, Mr Pence stressed the US would continue to ‘work diligently’ with allies like Japan, China and other international powers to apply economic and diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang.
‘The United States of America will always seek peace - but under President Trump, the shield stands guard and the sword stands ready,’ Mr Pence told military personnel.