The Trump administration has been trying to clear the waters after sending out confusing messages concerning the whereabouts of the Vinson carrier group<\/b>
The US super-carrier Carl Vinson will arrive in the Sea of Japan or East Sea in days, Vice-President Mike Pence said in Australia on Saturday amid high tensions with North Korea. The Trump administration has been trying to clear the waters after sending out confusing messages concerning the whereabouts of the. \u201cOur expectation is that they will be in the Sea of Japan in position in a matter of days, before the end of this month, \u201d Pence told reporters in Sydney. \u201c [What] the regime in North Korea should make no mistake about, is that the United States has the resources, the personnel and the presence in this region of the world to see to our interests and to see to the security of those interests and our allies, \u201d Pence said. Tensions between the US and North Korea have soared in recent weeks following a drumbeat of missile tests and fears that Pyongyang may be readying a sixth nuclear test. The US Navy on April 8 said it was directing a naval strike group headed by the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier to \u201csail north\u201d from waters off Singapore, as a \u201cprudent measure\u201d to deter the regime. \u201cWe are sending an armada. Very powerful, \u201d said US President Donald Trump as other officials made it sound like the ships were steaming toward the region. Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said the Vinson was \u201con her way up\u201d. But the Navy admitted on Tuesday the ships were in fact sent in the opposite direction \u2013 away from Singapore and toward Australia to conduct drills with the Australian navy. Pence warned Wednesday that the United States would counter any North Korean attack with an \u201coverwhelming and effective\u201d response. His comments came a senior North Korean official warned the regime had no intention of scaling down its missile programme, pledging weekly tests and threatening \u201call-out war\u201d if the US took any action against it. Trump\u2019s deputy visited South Korea and Japan before Australia to reassure allies fretting over Pyongyang\u2019s quickening missile programme.<\/p>\n