‘Armada’ Was Not Sailing To Korea, U.S. Says

Washington: Vice President Mike Pence issued more stiff warnings to North Korea on Wednesday, while traveling on the next leg of his Asia trip, speaking in Japan.

"Those who would challenge our resolve or our readiness should know: We will defeat any attack and meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with an overwhelming and effective American response," the vice president said aboard the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan in Yokosuka City. "The United States of America will always seek peace, but under President Trump, the shield stands guard and the sword stands ready."

Meanwhile, disturbing footage was reportedly broadcast on North Korean state television -- video showing missiles destroying the United States.

Speaking before 2,500 gathered sailors, Pence derided the more diplomatic, patient approach of previous administrations on the North Korean issue.

"For more than two decades… The United States and our allies have worked tirelessly to peacefully dismantle North Korea's nuclear program and alleviate the suffering of its people," he said. "But at every step of the way, North Korea answered our overtures with willful deception, with broken promises, and nuclear and missile tests," including a failed missile test as recently as last weekend.

The vice president's bellicose remarks come as the U.S. has had to explain that a massive, recently-dispatched naval "armada" was not sailing to the Korean peninsula, but elsewhere. President Donald Trump told Fox Business last week he was "sending an armada, very powerful" to the Korean peninsula.

But instead, the fleet sailed to the Indian Ocean for exercises with Australian forces. And it will next sail to the Western Pacific "as a prudent measure" following a "curtailed" period of training with Australia, Dave Benham, U.S. Pacific Command spokesman, said on Wednesday.

Some experts complained about the apparent miscommunication.

"It does very seriously damage the credibility of the pressure the Americans are trying to apply to North Korea," Hugh White, a former deputy secretary for strategy and intelligence in the Australian defense department, told Bloomberg News. "The game that Trump is trying to play requires extremely careful coordination… to use the threat of armed forces as a political instrument."