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The USS Carl Vinson (left) in the waters off Indonesia

Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the USS Carl Vinson, the US aircraft carrier that is moving toward waters near the Korean Peninsula, would begin joint exercises with the Japan Self-Defense Forces on Apr. 23.

On a visit to Australia, US Vice President Mike Pence said that the USS Carl Vinson would be arriving in the East Sea in a few days, before the end of the month. Pence make the comments during a joint press conference with Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull following their meeting on Apr. 22.

The Yomiuri Shimbun quoted an anonymous Japanese government official in a report stating that two ships with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force were joining the USS Carl Vinson carrier group in the Western Pacific Ocean to conduct joint exercises beginning on Apr. 23. The joint exercises are designed to increase pressure on North Korea by emphasizing the US-Japan alliance, the newspaper reported.

The Japanese ships that are carrying out the joint exercises with the USS Carl Vinson carrier group are the Ashigara, an Aegis-equipped destroyer, and the Samidare, one of Japan‘s main warships, which sailed out of the port of Sasebo in Nagasaki on Apr. 22. The Ashigara and the Samidare rendezvoused with the USS Carl Vinson, which was moving from the Indian Ocean toward the Western Pacific Ocean. As the ships move north, they are carrying out communication and tactical drills about changing the line of battle. The exercises are planned to last between three and five days, and they could also carry out joint exercises in the East Sea, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force also carried out joint exercises in the East China Sea with the USS Carl Vinson carrier group from Mar. 7 to 10 and from Mar. 27 to 29.

US Vice President Mike Pence’s remarks that the USS Carl Vinson will reach the East Sea by the end of the month marked the first time that a senior US government official had revealed the timing of the carrier’s arrival in the East Sea since a controversy broke out about the carrier’s direction last week. On Apr. 8, US Pacific Commander Harry Harris announced that the USS Carl Vinson had been ordered to depart Singapore and sail to the Western Pacific Ocean to waters near the Korean Peninsula, but the revelation that the carrier was still in the Indian Ocean as of Apr. 15, a week later, whipped up a storm of allegations that this announcement had been a lie. The next question is what role the carrier will play now that it’s finally on its way to the Korean Peninsula.

The US government’s announcement that it is dispatching the USS Carl Vinson to the waters around the Korean Peninsula is part of its recent pressure on North Korea not to carry out a missile launch or a nuclear test. Japan is actively cooperating with the US on the pressure it is placing on North Korea.

By Cho Ki-weon, Tokyo correspondent

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]