war - US Special Ops: We’ve sent troops into North Korea

From: Patriot Update  Sent: Monday, May 28, 2012 Subject: US Special Ops: We've sent troops into North Korea

US Special Ops: We've sent troops into North Korea

By The Patriot Post, Mo.28May12

link source: http://patriotupdate.com/23649/us-special-ops-weve-sent-troops-into-north-korea

     U.S. Army Gen. Neil Tolley, commander of U.S. Special Operations Forces in South Korea, told an audience in Tampa that U.S. and South Korean forces have been sent into North Korea to spy on the communist country's vast collection of underground tunnels and military installations.

     The extraordinary admission, which went unreported by U.S. media, came on May 22 during the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference.  Tolley said his command has identified 20 airfields and 180 munitions factories that are partially underground, along with thousands of subterranean artillery positions.

     "The entire tunnel infrastructure is hidden from our satellites," Tolley added, according a report published Monday by The Diplomat, a Japan-based foreign affairs magazine.

     "So we send ROK [Republic of Korea] soldiers and U.S. soldiers to the North to do special reconnaissance."

Photo: AP

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By David Martosko - The Daily Caller, 28May12 

Executive Editor

Post UPDATE continued from The Daily Caller, the article source:

http://dailycaller.com/2012/05/28/us-special-ops-commander-weve-sent-troops-into-north-korea/

     In this Friday, April 20, 2012 photo, thousands chant near the portraits of late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in central Pyongyang, North Korea, at a rally denouncing South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

     This April 15, 2012 satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe shows a parade held to mark the 100th anniversary of Kim Il Sung's birthday in Pyongyang, North Korea.  The parade can be seen from the top left center of the image frame as it makes it way toward Kim Il Sung Square, seen in the lower right hand corner of the frame, where a large formation of people in red and gold clothing spell out in Korean the characters for the word "glory".  The parade culminated with the unveiling of a new long-range missile, though it's not clear how powerful or significant the addition to the North Korean arsenal is.  Some analysts suggested it might have been a dummy designed to dupe outside observers.  At right is the Taedong River.  (AP Photo/DigitalGlobe)

     In this Friday, April 20, 2012 photo, thousands march and chant near the portraits of late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il, right, in central Pyongyang, North Korea, at a rally denouncing South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.  The spectacles exist at a North Korean intersection of dogma, tedium and entertainment. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

UPDATE: U.S. military officials told a Voice of America journalist in a statement that the quotes attributed to Gen. Tolley were fabricated.

     "At no time have SOF [Special Operations] forces been sent to the north to conduct special reconnaissance," said the United States Forces Korea.

     U.S. Army Gen. Neil Tolley, commander of U.S. Special Operations Forces in South Korea, told an audience in Tampa that U.S. and South Korean forces have been sent into North Korea to spy on the communist country's vast collection of underground tunnels and military installations.

     The extraordinary admission, which went unreported by U.S. media, came on May 22 during the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference.  Tolley said his command has identified 20 airfields and 180 munitions factories that are partially underground, along with thousands of subterranean artillery positions.

     "The entire tunnel infrastructure is hidden from our satellites," Tolley added, according a report published Monday by The Diplomat, a Japan-based foreign affairs magazine.

     "So we send ROK [Republic of Korea] soldiers and U.S. soldiers to the North to do special reconnaissance."

     North Korea, he said, has dug tunnels underneath the Demilitarized Zone separating it from the South.  "There were four tunnels under the DMZ," Tolley observed, according to a Tampa Tribune blogger.  "Those are the ones we know about."

     Tolley's commandos, he said, parachute into North Korea to watch the tunnels and gather intelligence, carrying the bare minimum of supplies to avoid detection.

     The brigadier general appeared on a panel with his counterparts from the much larger African, European, Pacific and Southern commands.  But the comparatively tiny region he oversees, he said, is nothing to sneeze at.

     "We have only two countries and one time zone," he explained, "but what we lack in size we make up for in kilotons of evil."

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