To prevent North Korea conducting further missile and nuclear tests, Japan is preparing several warships to join the United States aircraft carrier strike groups in the Korean peninsula. Several Japanese navy destroyers will join USS Carl Vinson and its battle group for military drills.
The move came when the Chinese president had a conversation with President Donald Trump to calm the region. Xi Jinping, the current General Secretary of the Communist Party of China said that China is committed to stopping nuclear activities on the Korean peninsula to safeguard peace and resolve the problems through peaceful actions.
President Trump wrote on his twitter, “North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.”
The US aircraft carrier was again deployed and sailing north from Singapore towards the Korean peninsula because of speculations that Pyongyang is planning to launch more missiles to celebrate the 105th anniversary of the birth of the state’s founder, Kim Il-sung on Saturday, or on the 85th anniversary of the ruling Korean People’s Army on 25 April.
Japanese and US warships would be taking part in joint military drills. Activities will include landing of helicopters on each other’s vessels and communications drills. A submarine is also expected to join the group. This will all happen when the Carl Vinson passes through waters of Japan.
The planned engagement increases cooperation between the US, Japanese and South Korean navies. Aegis ships from the three countries already held a joint drill last month to improve their ability to detect and track North Korean missiles.
A senior Japanese diplomat said the presence of a US naval strike group off the peninsula is designed to pressure North Korea to agree with a diplomatic solution about its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.
Last Tuesday, North Korea warned about catastrophic consequences from any provocations by the US. Carl Vinson began its journey towards the Korean peninsula after that day.
Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/12/japanese-warships-join-us-fleet-north-korea
