CHINA and Russia have launched spy ships to chase a US naval task force away from Korea, according to reports.

With tensions rising in the region, Donald Trump ordered aircraft carrier the USS Carl Vinson to lead a strike force to the Korean Peninsula in a show of force.

3 The USS Carl Vinson, seen earlier this year, is leading a task force to North Korea Credit: Getty Images

Rival powers have now deployed intelligence gathering vessels, according Raw Story, citing Japanese government sources quoted in The Yomiuri Shimbun.

The ships may be intended as a warning to Washington after both countries cautioned the US about taking action in the region.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier this week: “We call on all countries for restraint, we call on all the countries to refrain from any actions that could amount to provocative steps.”

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And Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi echoed this statement, telling Pyongyang and Washington to step back from the brink before they set off down “an irreversible route”.

North Korea's deputy UN ambassador today slammed the deployment of the naval task force to the region.

Kim In Ryong accused the US of turning the Korean Peninsula into "the world's biggest hotspot" and creating "a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment".

He said the Trump administration's deployment of the Carl Vinson nuclear carrier task group to waters off the Korean Peninsula again "proves the US’s reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase of its scenario".

3 Sailors conduct flight operations on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson Credit: Reuters

3 An F/A 18C Hornet from the Blue Blasters of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 34 takes off from the aircraft carrier Credit: Getty Images

Tensions have escalated over North Korean moves to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

The North conducted two nuclear tests and 24 ballistic missile tests last year, defying six UN Security Council resolutions banning any testing.

And it has conducted additional missile tests this year – including one this past weekend that failed when the missile blew up soon after launching.

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