Korea

US Navy aircraft carrier reverses course, heads back toward Korean peninsula

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, Carl Vinson, previously scheduled for a port call in Australia has reversed course — and currently is heading back to waters off the Korean peninsula following recent provocations from North Korea.

The carrier group includes the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, with support from several missile destroyers and missile cruisers.

Last month, the USS Carl Vinson strike group had participated in annual military exercises with the South Korean military — that North Korea regards as rehearsal for invasion. In a show of defiance, North Korea fired four ballistic missiles into the ocean off Japan last month. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. began bringing in equipment for the long-planned deployment in South Korea of a missile defense system, known as THAAD.