Last week, US President Donald Trump boasted that he had sent an "armada" to the shores of North Korea as a warning. This week, it became known that the aircraft carrier strike group is not only still far away from the Korean peninsula, but is headed in the opposite direction.
In response, the general staff of the North Korean armed forces threatened to launch a strike against US military bases in Japan and South Korea, as well as the presidential residence in Seoul in case of US aggression. Then, on April 15, North Korea reportedly test-launched a missile but the experiment failed.
During his subsequent visit to South Korea on April 17, Vice President Mike Pence said that US military strikes on enemy forces in Afghanistan and Syria show the shift in Washington's strategy to halt North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
