US strike group headed towards Korean Peninsula

A US aircraft carrier-led strike group is headed toward the Western Pacific Ocean near the Korean Peninsula, an American defence official said.

The move of the Vinson strike group is in response to the North Korean provocations, the official told CNN on Sunday.

Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of US Pacific Command, directed the USS Carl Vinson strike group to sail north to the Western Pacific after departing Singapore on Saturday, Pacific Command announced.

On April 5, North Korea launched a projectile, later identified as a Scud extended-range missile, into the sea off the Korean Peninsula.

There were conflicting accounts about how far it flew. The regime has also conducted several missile engine tests as it works to improve its ballistic missile technology.

News of the carrier move comes just after a summit meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, where North Korea was one of the top items on the agenda.

"President Xi clearly understands, and -- and I think agrees, that the situation has intensified and has reached a certain level of threat that action has to be taken," US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told CBS News on Sunday.

"There's a shared view and no disagreement as to how dangerous the situation has become," he added.

--IANS

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