US carrier strike group heads toward Korea

The USS Carl Vinson

U.S. aircraft carrier the USS Carl Vinson has been diverted to the Western Pacific instead of sailing from Singapore to Australia, the U.S. navy said, amid escalated tensions on the Korean peninsula over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

The strike group includes the Carl Vinson, several guided-missile destroyers and a guided-missile cruiser, according to a statement on the navy’s website. It did not specify a destination.

“U.S. Pacific Command ordered the Carl Vinson strike group north as a prudent measure to maintain readiness and presence in the Western Pacific,” Pacific Command spokesman Dave Benham said yesterday.

“Third Fleet ships operate forward with a purpose: to safeguard U.S. interests in the Western Pacific,” he said. “The number one threat in the region continues to be North Korea, due to its reckless, irresponsible, and destabilizing program of missile tests and pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability.”

Reuters reported the carrier will move near the Korean peninsula, citing a U.S. official it did not identify. Pacific Command declined to provide the precise location the carrier strike force will be deployed.

U.S. President Donald Trump sent a message to North Korea and its ally China during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida that he was willing to take action over Kim Jong Un’s nuclear program, said Lee Ho-ryung, chief of North Korean studies at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.

“The U.S. is proving itself that it can really take action if you play with chemical weapons like Syria,” Lee said. Still, “the Carl Vinson’s move toward the Korean peninsula is probably a decision they made some time ago as part of the Foal Eagle joint military drills. In that sense, it’s not a special move.”

The strike group has participated in numerous exercises with Japan and the South Korea and conducted routine patrol operations in the South China Sea since its Jan. 5 deployment from San Diego, California, the Navy statement said.

North Korea conducted another ballistic missile test on April 5, shortly before Xi and Trump met. Kim has said previously his regime is close to developing a ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to the continental U.S.

Many weapons experts say the North could have a functioning nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the continental U.S. within a few years.

However, last week an Air Force general said she was extremely confident the United States could intercept a ballistic missile fired by North Korea.

During a congressional testimony, Gen. Lori Robinson said North Korea “can’t reach our homeland” right now. Robinson told the Senate Armed Services Committee. MDT/AP

What is in the strike group?

The strike group includes the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, with support from two guided-missile destroyers and a guided-missile cruiser. The group, headed by Admiral Nora Tyson, has the military capability to intercept ballistic missiles. The USS Carl Vinson is the third Nimitz-class supercarrier operated by the U.S. Launched in 1980, the ship is one of ten nuclear-powered aircraft carriers named after former U.S. Admirial, Chester Nimitz. Deployed from San Diego to the western Pacific since Jan. 5, the strike group has participated in numerous exercises with the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force and Republic of Korea Navy, various maritime security initiatives, and routine patrol operations in the South China Sea.