US special forces 'parachuted into North Korea'

[MR2]

US special forces 'parachuted into North Korea'
US and South Korean special forces have been parachuting into North Korea to gather intelligence about underground military installations, according to a senior US officer.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9296587/US-special-forces-parachuted-into-North-Korea.html

This is from The Telegraph which is British and their definition of what Special Forces and Special Operations Forces are different then ours.

[afchic]

What ever happened to the phrase "loose lips sink ships". Now instead of keeping our secrets secret, we have GOs telling every Tom, Dick or Harry that wants to listen, what we are up to.

US special forces on the ground in North Korea, says American commander
By Carlo Munoz - 05/28/12 03:42 PM ET

Members of U.S. special forces are on the ground in North Korea, gathering intelligence on the country's network of clandestine military bases near its border with the South.

Brig. Gen. Neil Tolley, head of all American special operations forces in South Korea, said units of elite U.S. troops were conducting "special reconnaissance" missions in the North.

Elite troops have been dropped behind North Korean lines to pinpoint the specific locations of Pyongyang's vast network of underground military bases, Tolley said during a speech at a Special Operations Forces Industry Conference in Tampa last Tuesday.

Tolley's comments on the American deployments in North Korea were first reported on Monday by The Diplomat, a Japan-based foreign affairs magazine.
American commandos have identified hundreds of underground munitions facilities, along with thousands of subterranean artillery positions, linked by a complex network of underground tunnels that run up to the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea, Tolley said.

Until now, U.S. and western intelligence had not been able to verify the existence of the tunnel network, since the complex had been hidden from spy satellites that continually survey the country.

"There were four tunnels under the [demilitarized zone]. Those are the ones we know about," Tolley said, according to reports in the Tampa Tribune.
The one-star general's comments came days after news broke that American special forces were also on the ground in Yemen.

Those troops are providing intelligence and logistics support to the Yemeni military's ongoing offensive to drive al Qaeda's local cell, known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), from their positions in the southern part of the country.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters on May 10 that no American troops would be sent to Yemen as part of that country's counterterrorism operations.

Last Tuesday, DOD spokesman George Little said the U.S. special forces units in Yemen were part of an American-led advise and assist mission supporting the Yemeni military.

When asked if the U.S. role in Yemen could expand beyond intelligence and logistical support, Little replied that the United States has a "very strong military relationship with Yemen [and] that relationship is focused . . . on jointly addressing the counterterrorism threat" posed by AQAP.

[afchic]

Now USFK is saying the quotes of Gen Tolley were made up.


US military: ‘Quotes have been made up’ about alleged incursions into North Korea
11:49 PM 05/28/2012
ADVERTISEMENT Quotes indicating that U.S. special forces had made reconnaissance incursions into North Korea were fabricated, United States Forces Korea told a Voice of America journalist in a statement.

U.S. Army Gen. Neil Tolley, commander of U.S. special operations on the Korean peninsula, was quoted in The Diplomat magazine as saying “we send ROK [Republic of Korea] soldiers and U.S. soldiers to the North to do special reconnaissance.”

The Daily Caller reported on the apparent admission, which The Diplomat said came during a military industry conference in Tampa last week.

But VOA bureau chief Steve Herman, tweeting from Seoul, quoted a statement from United States Forces Korea saying “quotes have been made up & attributed to” Brigadier Gen. Neil Tolley.

“At no time have SOF [Special Operations] forces been sent to the north to conduct special reconnaissance,” Herman tweeted from the statement, which was not immediately available online.

In an article for The Diplomat titled “U.S. Forces Spy on North Korea,” reporter David Axe wrote Monday that Gen. Tolley had acknowledged that North Korea’s “entire tunnel infrastructure is hidden from our satellites,” making it necessary to send South Korean and U.S. soldiers into North Korea.

A Tampa Tribune writer who attended the same event reported other comments from Trolley, but nothing related to U.S. forces parachuting across the Demilitarized Zone and into the communist North.

But Axe’s version of events brought military spokesmen to attention. They issued a stern denial early on Tuesday morning, Seoul time.

Herman noted in another tweet that the need for close inspection of North Korean military installations was minimal. “With US recon sats & U2 overflights with sub-meter resolution,” he noted, “there’s not much of value SOF could eyeball” in person.

On his blog, Axe initially defended his reporting before equivocating.

“My notes have Tolley saying what I attribute to him in the story,” he wrote in an update.

Then after reading the U.S. military statement, he seemed to backtrack.

“I really hope someone has a transcript of this panel,” Axe wrote. “Are my handwritten notes inaccurate? Was the general vague in his comments? A third-party written record will help clear this up. Anyone?”

Follow David on Twitter



Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/05/28/us-military-quotes-have-been-made-up-about-alleged-incursions-into-north-korea/#ixzz1wGf7yhXd

[Team Sergeant]

A little misinformation goes a long way, especially when we're talking about Special Operations, or Special Forces soldiers.

I'm sure that upon hearing this the fat faced little punk Kim Jong-un spent the whole night looking under his bed.;)

[Badger52]

I'm sure that upon hearing this the fat faced little punk Kim Jong-un spent the whole night looking under his bed.;)That's easy to do if you're already hiding under it.

[aegisnavy]

Sounds like secret squirrel all over again. ;)

[mark46th]

Special Forces, Special Operations Forces/ SEALs, Force Recon, Special Forces Operators? All the same thing to the public/press. That would be a tough mission to pull. I wouldn't want to be caught by the North Koreans. I always thought the North Koreans to be the cruelest of the cruel.

[Sparty On]

That would be a tough mission to pull.

If you're willing to share, I'm curious as to why. I am totally unfamiliar with the challenges posed by a mission like that.

If you're not willing, disregard my inquiry.

[Richard]

...I'm curious as to why.

Do your own reaearch - it's not difficult and there is plenty of information out there. FYI - we don't discuss TTPs (you can look that one up, too) among non-QPs.

Richard :munchin

[Sparty On]

Do your own reaearch - it's not difficult and there is plenty of information out there. FYI - we don't discuss TTPs (you can look that one up, too) among non-QPs.

Richard :munchin

Understood -- I am not interested in TTPs at all. I thought that getting the scoop (sans TTPs) from an expert would be more accurate than information generated by a Google search.

Ironically, I found PS.com when I Googled "Dalton Fury" after reading his book. What I read here confirmed my suspicion that he had an axe to grind.

Thanks for the response.

[Masochist]

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2012/06/ap-1-star-replaced-north-korea-spying-comments-060512/

Looks like BG Tolley has been replaced. And in a curious coincidence, his bio on the NG website (http://www.ng.mil/ngbgomo/library/bio/2438.htm) has been unavailable all day.

[2018commo]

Neal was one of my Det CDR's, it's a damn shame.

[Golf1echo]

My google-fu is weak but I am fairly sure I read that the reporter admitted he falsified information and then hanged himself...

[abc_123]

My google-fu is weak but I am fairly sure I read that the reporter admitted he falsified information and then hanged himself...

Since you obviously don't know anything...what compelled you to post?

[Golf1echo]

Looks like what I read has since been edited and appears I may have missed some of the subtleties. My apologies...
http://sofrep.com/7608/reporter-kills-self-north-korea/