Trump’s “armada” is finally on its way to the Korean peninsula

North Korea has always been less than reverent towards US and the other world powers, Kim Jong Un, the nation’s leader have tested every boundary that he possibly could. The country is under a lot of burden due to the UN sanctions against them, but yet North Korea isn’t showing any sign that they would relent. They have even managed to make their one and only ally China very angry with the nuclear and missile tests they have been conducting.

The current US administration had made it clear right from the beginning that North Korea’s provocations will not be taken lightly or shown any leniency. In keeping with that principle, on 8th of April it was announced that the US will be sending a strike team led by the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson. During an interview with Fox Business Network, President Donald Trump also confirmed that the armada was on its way to the Korean waters.

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) transits the Pacific Ocean. Theodore Roosevelt is underway conducting a tailored ship’s training availability off the coast of California. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Alex Corona)

But it looks as if there was some miscommunication involved as a photograph released by the Navy showed the Carl Vinson sailing through the Sunda Strait on Saturday 15th April. Incidentally, the whole armada was supposed to be in the Korean waters on that day as a show of force and was supposed to deter North Korea from testing any more nuclear devices r missiles on 15th April, the birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea.

Instead, the aircraft carrier and its three escorts; two guided-missile destroyers and a cruiser were actually 3000 miles away from the Korean Peninsula and getting further away. Apparently, going to the Korean peninsula was not their primary mission; the armada was on its way to a scheduled joint exercise with Australian forces. Whether there was a communication mix up or if this was a deliberate obfuscation on US’s part is not yet known. But China, who was really very unhappy about the armada, will now breathe a sigh of relief.

The strike group will now be cutting short their exercise and start moving towards the Korean waters. They are likely to reach their destination by the end of this month.