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DIA: North Korea Planned Attacks on US Nuclear Plants
Free Beacon ^ | Dec 18, 2014 | Bill Gertz

Posted on 12/18/2014 8:11:16 PM PST by Jet Jaguar

Five commando units trained for strikes, sabotage

North Korea dispatched covert commando teams to the United States in the 1990s to attack nuclear power plants and major cities in a conflict, according to a declassified Defense Intelligence Agency report.

The DIA report, dated Sept. 13, 2004, reveals that five units of covert commandos were trained for the attacks inside the country.

According to the report, the “Reconnaissance Bureau, North Korea, had agents in place to attack American nuclear power plants.”

The document states that the North Korean Ministry of People’s Armed Forces, the ministry in charge of the military, “established five liaison offices in the early 1990s, to train and infiltrate operatives into the United States to attack nuclear power plants and major cities in case of hostilities.”

“One of the driving forces behind the establishment of the units and infiltration of operatives was the slow progress in developing a multi-stage ballistic missile.”

North Korea is known to have at least two long-range missiles capable of hitting the United States, the Taepodong-2 intercontinental ballistic missile, and the KN-08 road-mobile ICBM, which has not yet been flight tested.

The report indicates that power plants would be targeted for attack “in the event of hostilities between the United States and DPRK” – the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea.

The Reconnaissance Bureau is part of the Ministry of People’s Armed Forces and is in charge of the estimated 60,000 North Korean special operations commandos.

The heavily redacted report is what is known as a raw intelligence report, consisting of information possibly provided to the United States by a defector or agent, or possibly obtained from electronic surveillance.

Reconnaissance Bureau commandos have undertaken terrorist operations in the past in South Korea and other locations.

But the DIA report is the first intelligence document indicating North Korea had planned attacks inside the United States and dispatched agents for the operations.

Disclosure of the report, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, comes amid threats by presumed North Korean agents to conduct September 11-style terrorist attacks against U.S. movie theaters.

The threats coincided with efforts by North Korea to prevent the showing Dec. 25 of the Sony Pictures film “The Interview,” a comedy involving a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The U.S. government determined that the massive hack targeting against Sony, which stole an estimated 100 terabytes of data including unreleased films, has been determined to be the work of North Korean hackers or those working for the regime of Kim Jong Un.

S.Y. Lee, a Department Homeland Security spokesman, declined to comment on the 2004 document.

A DHS official said the department is aware of the threat to attack movie theaters.

“We are still analyzing the credibility of these statements, but at this time there is no credible intelligence to indicate an active plot against movie theaters within the United States,” the official said.

The official said DHS will adjust its security procedures to protect Americans.

“This includes continued, regular information sharing with our state, local, federal and international partners, builds on ongoing work, such as enhanced protection at federal facilities,” the official said, adding that the public is encouraged to report suspicious activity to law enforcement agencies.

The FBI, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, said it was unaware of the DIA intelligence report on North Korean commando teams. In a July 9, 2012 letter, the FBI stated that it was unable to find any file records on North Korea’s Reconnaissance Bureau.

An FBI spokesman had no immediate comment. A DIA spokesman did not return emails seeking comment on the documents.

A second DIA document reveals that an American defector identified only as “Jackson” and as a former Air Force officer was working inside North Korea for the Reconnaissance Bureau.

The 1998 document stated that the officer had been “captured by North Korea” and was teaching North Koreans “U.S. Special Forces tactics, English [language], and interrogation techniques as chief of psychological operations studies at Madonghui Military College to North Korean seaborne snipers.”

The American also “visited the 52nd Seaborne Sniper Battalion to teach U.S. Special Forces tactics, American English, and interrogation techniques since before 1983,” the report said, noting that the training was carried out under the Reconnaissance Bureau.

The reference to “American English” is an indication the training may have been preparation for the future dispatch of North Korean snipers to the United States.

Mark Sauter, a security adviser to corporations and long-time North Korea watcher said the documents clearly raise alarms about whether North Korea could follow through on threats to conduct 9/11-style terrorist attacks.

“What they’ve done by the Sony hack is shown they’re certainly willing to attack a U.S. corporation,” said Sauter, who obtained the documents. “Now they’re threating a physical attack along the lines of 9/11 and it is certainly possible they could have agents inside the United States capable of carrying out terrorist attacks.”

“North Korean agents have committed terrorist attacks and kidnappings around the world,” said Sauter, a former Special Forces and infantry officer. “Why wouldn’t they send agents to the homeland of their biggest enemy?”

Sauter noted that it took the U.S. government weeks to determine that North Korea was capable of hacking a major company. “It would be a mistake for the government now to assume North Korea is not capable of launching a terrorist attack in the U.S.,” he said. “They may or may not have the desire to attack the U.S. homeland now or in the future, but there’s a good chance they have at least some capability.”

Bill Cowan, a former Army Special Forces officer, agreed and called the document an alarming disclosure.

“This demonstrates the North Koreans have capabilities most of us didn’t realize they had,” Cowan said. “It talks about them being on U.S. soil to carry out attacks and that takes the threat to a whole new level. And they’re probably still here.”

Past Reconnaissance Bureau operations included the bombing in Rangoon, Burma in 1983 in an attempt to kill then-South Korean President Chun Do-hwan. Three senior South Korean government ministers were killed in the attack.

Bureau commandos also carried out the attack on South Korea’s presidential Blue House in 1968 in an attempt to assassinate then-President Park Chung Hee, father of current South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

The Reconnaissance Bureau also is in charge of covert operations to infiltrate South Korea through tunnels and seaborne insertion of intelligence personnel.

North Korean intelligence activities in the United States have been limited.

In 2003, the FBI arrested Korean-American businessman John Joungwoong Yai, who was identified as a North Korean agent. He pleaded guilty to financial charges and served two years in prison.

Yai was paid for sending reports to North Korea through China based on publicly available sources. He had been tasked by North Korean officials to locate a North Korean agent who had defected.

Documents in the case revealed plans by North Korea to try and plant one of its agents inside the U.S. government.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; Russia; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 2004; 200409; abductions; amypascal; china; clooney; cyberwar; cyberwarfare; defector; georgeclooney; guardiansofpeace; hollywood; jackson; kidnappings; movietheater; movietheaters; nkorea; norks; northkorea; powerplantplots; powerplants; pyongyang; reconnaissancebureau; snipers; sony; theater; theaterplot; theaterplots; usaf; waronterror
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To: Jack Hammer

You’re joking right?


41 posted on 12/19/2014 1:59:47 AM PST by stillfree? (Tagline? We don't need no stinking taglines!)
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To: Jet Jaguar

Yeah from a long while back people, not now.......

Another ginned up headline from the MSM to grab your attention but you got to read.

This is smoke and mirrors also being let out by Obama administration to cover up something else. What? Keep watching for it. Cuba out of the news. His new appointments?

Something in DC is wanting to be covered up. They covered up Benghazi via a video so their MO points toward videos and Hollywierd.


42 posted on 12/19/2014 3:15:59 AM PST by eartick (Been to the line in the sand and liked it)
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To: Blood of Tyrants; ADemocratNoMore; Akron Al; arbee4bush; agrace; ATOMIC_PUNK; Badeye; ...

(In case this has not been seen by you.)

Of possible interest to the ping lists members..

< snip >
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/dia-north-korea-planned-attacks-on-us-nuclear-plants/
North Korea dispatched covert commando teams to the United States in the 1990s to attack nuclear power plants and major cities in a conflict, according to a declassified Defense Intelligence Agency report.

The DIA report, dated Sept. 13, 2004, reveals that five units of covert commandos were trained for the attacks inside the country.

According to the report, the “Reconnaissance Bureau, North Korea, had agents in place to attack American nuclear power plants.”

The document states that the North Korean Ministry of People’s Armed Forces, the ministry in charge of the military, “established five liaison offices in the early 1990s, to train and infiltrate operatives into the United States to attack nuclear power plants and major cities in case of hostilities.”

“One of the driving forces behind the establishment of the units and infiltration of operatives was the slow progress in developing a multi-stage ballistic missile.”


43 posted on 12/19/2014 4:02:51 AM PST by Las Vegas Dave (The democ"RAT"ic party preys on the ignorant..!)
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To: Jet Jaguar
But the DIA report

All this stuff coming out about NK makes me wonder if most of it is just govt. propaganda. I don't think NK has the capability to do half the crap we're being told they do. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me that they're still using electric typewriters.....

44 posted on 12/19/2014 4:17:02 AM PST by Hot Tabasco (“We do not have to invade the United States, we will destroy you from within.”)
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To: Jet Jaguar

Between this, the Sony attack and the latest threats, it looks like we’re in an undeclared state of war with North Korea, and that we’re only waiting on a genuine American President - who puts the safety and security of Americans first - to declare it.


45 posted on 12/19/2014 4:39:21 AM PST by quesney (e)
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To: quesney

...unless this is all another Wag the Dog (but what about the Sony attack?). Wouldn’t put it past this Administration.


46 posted on 12/19/2014 4:40:57 AM PST by quesney (e)
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To: Greetings_Puny_Humans

Yep


47 posted on 12/19/2014 6:58:05 AM PST by b4its2late (A Liberal is a person who will give away everything he doesn't own.)
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To: Jet Jaguar

It is interesting how Clinton took this so seriously. All that I recall from the Clinton administration and the Norks was sending them oil so they wouldn’t freeze to death in winter. I’m sorry to sound harsh, but I have a fundamental belief that there are some people, in this case North Koreans, that do not deserve any help from us. Maybe it would be a wake up call to them to revolt if we didn’t help them just get buy with rice and oil. North Korean and its people need to be cut off. They are our enemy and should be treated as such. It is not our problem that their form of government can’t feed, clothe and house its people. American taxpayers should have to pay for it or the forces in South Korea.


48 posted on 12/19/2014 9:22:14 AM PST by ConservativeInPA (We need to fundamentally transform RATs lives for their lies.)
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To: Las Vegas Dave

Oh how times change ... the Mooselimb scourge has whole training camps in the US yet the unJustice Department deems them a protected minority. Someday, when these same bloodthirsty devils are slaughtering children in schools and shoppers in Malls, will people who survive the times remember that the Harry Reids, Joe Bidens, Eric Holders, Nazi Pelsois, etc. are responsible for baring our collective necks?


49 posted on 12/19/2014 10:18:23 AM PST by MHGinTN
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To: b4its2late; 353FMG; Greetings_Puny_Humans; OddLane; Hot Tabasco
17 North Korea is China’s lil beeotch.

22 With our open border policy, the plan will someday succeed.

37 Exactly why we should interpret any attack from the North Koreans as being sanctioned by the Chicoms. ... 39 It seems unlikely. I know they've conducted terrorist operations outside of the Korean Peninsula, but it just seems implausible that they would have the manpower to have real assets in this country-let alone commandos-in the same way that Cuba/DGI or Iran/Hezbollah does.

44 I don't think NK has the capability to do half the crap we're being told they do. ...

Brad Thor's last (2014) thriller, Act of War, was about a Chi-Com/NORK undercover operation to neutralize the U.S. with a series of 6 strategically placed small nukes that would create a coast-to-coast EMP that would quickly transport America back to the start of the 19th century. The nukes would be released airborne via hydrogen weather balloons within 6 cities in the U.S - a K.I.S.S. tactic. The communist premise was that within a year, 90% of the U.S. population would have starved to death because so few Americans knew how to subsistence farm. Then they would transport NORKs and Chi-com peasants, who they were training, to literally cultivate the U.S.

Of course, such a scenario ignores the U.S. market which many think Red China is dependent upon

50 posted on 12/19/2014 11:43:34 AM PST by MacNaughton (" ...it is better to die on the losing side than to live under Communism." Whitaker Chambers)
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