A "very powerful" US Navy armada which the Trump administration said was heading towards the Korean Peninsula to deter the North from carrying out a nuclear test was actually carrying out exercises with the Royal Australian Navy thousands of kilometres away in the Indian Ocean, the ABC has confirmed.

Key points: Beijing "has the ability" to bring North Korea into position where it's not threatening neighbours, Turnbull says

Beijing "has the ability" to bring North Korea into position where it's not threatening neighbours, Turnbull says North Korea's nuclear program threatens Australia, Julie Bishop says

North Korea's nuclear program threatens Australia, Julie Bishop says "We'll be conducting more missile tests weekly," North Korean Vice Foreign Minister says

As tensions soared on the Korean Peninsula earlier this month, the US Government said the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier was being dispatched to the Sea of Japan to send a "powerful signal" to North Korea.

Loading

The Vinson's strike group had been scheduled to make port visits to Australia, but on April 8 the US Pacific Fleet announced it would "sail north and report on station in the Western Pacific Ocean after departing Singapore".

But instead of heading straight towards the Korean peninsula the US strike group instead conducted planned exercises with HMAS Ballarat in the Indian Ocean.

Senior Australian defence sources say the US carrier group is now gradually making its way closer to North Korea.

According to images released by the US Navy on Saturday the carrier group passed north through the Sunda Strait, the passage between the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java, which is about 5,600 kilometres from Korea.

Map It was thought that the USS Vinson was already moving towards the Sea of Japan

China needs to take tougher action: Turnbull

Sorry, this video has expired Malcolm Turnbull says China has the biggest responsibility to take action against North Korea.

Meanwhile, Malcolm Turnbull has warned that North Korea poses a "dangerous" threat to Australia's peace and stability.

In his strongest statement yet over the growing military tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the Prime Minister urged Beijing to take tougher action against its near neighbour.

"It has the greatest obligation and responsibility to bring North Korea back into a realm of at least responsibility in terms of its engagement with its neighbours," Mr Turnbull told reporters in Canberra.

"It has the ability, if it chooses, to exercise it to bring North Korea back into at least the position where it is not threatening to rain down devastation on its neighbours, which is what they have been doing."

Earlier Foreign Minister Julie Bishop warned North Korea's nuclear weapons program posed a "serious threat" to Australia unless was is stopped by the international community.

During a visit to South Korea, US Vice-President Mike Pence declared the "era of strategic patience is over" with North Korea, expressing doubts over the willingness of the regime to move toward ridding itself of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

In response, North Korea threatened to carry out weekly missile tests.

"We'll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis," North Korean Vice-Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol told the BBC in Pyongyang.

Mr Pence will arrive in Australia later this week as part of a tour of the region where he is meeting with key allies, including Japan.