Thread by @NoonInKorea

NYT finally realizes that intelligence officers have been taking leading role in dealing with NK. The interpretation is correct that this made Tillerson expendable, as he was kept out of the loop. We'll provide more details on what NYT may have missed. nytimes.com/2018/03/16/us/…

One reason why so many people are suspicious of NK's denuclearization pledge is because the talks were largely conducted behind the scene by intelligence officers. But there has been an influx of both intel & what we may call PMC employees since Sept 2017.

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Booze Allen started hiring in HumInt, SigInt, FISINT, IED, CI areas in SK in Sept and some positions required TS: SCI (Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information). Northrop Grumman also sought civilians to work for USFK on "contingent DoD contracts"
news.chosun.com/site/data/html…

But the same thing with CIA workers: CA reports the # of CIA workers in SK rose 3fold: 20 were believed to be in SK prior to Aug 2017 but now there's 60. That's only for white-gray operatives. For black ops agents, the number is much higher but unknowable

FYI whites are those who may work in US embassy. Grays may be those that are half-disguised and work in the state department but are really CIA workers. But a blacks ops agent is someone whose identity is completely disguised: e.g., an English teacher(!) at hagwon or a journalist

The turning point was Aug 2017 when NK threatened to fire 4 missiles to surround Guam and conducted its 6th nuke test. Black op agents are from CIA's Special Activities Division (SAD) and have 2 components: Special Ops Gp (SOG) & Political Action Gp (PAG)

Again that's what CA thinks but some might be from the Korea Mission Center (KMC) started by Pompeo in 5/2017. But doesn't SK share intel with US? Yes but US wants its own intel, esp. HumInt and intel is usually exchanged "in kind" for some consideration.

What that means is "We'll give you satellite pics & you give us HumInt." There's no free lunch. SK isn't gonna give all of its HumInt to US. For example Pompeo supposedly came up with 700 targets to bomb in NK. How did he come up with that? Satellites pics but he could use HumInt

Why is it impossible to tell how many black ops agents are running around in SK? Because they don't come through Incheon; they come through Osan AFB with their toolboxes & equipment. There's no body cavity check there. But analysts think SK could be teeming with black ops agents

For example, analysts think this C-146A Wolfhound plane that landed in Kunsan AFB sometime in January may have carried SOF as well as CIA black ops agents. The planes actually looks fairly civilian I mean pedestrian but there are only 20 or so such planes.

Well, not entirely sure about that but analysts obtained this pic of innocent looking passengers who look like backpackers. But they're actually Delta Force members according to CA. How would CA know? They usually stake out AFBs and poke around for pics.

But why would SOF members ride together with black ops agents? There'll be collaboration when undertaking special missions to NK whether they involve finding WMD locations or decapitating KJU. Gina Haspel with 30 years of experience might try to separate KJU from nuclear weapons.

Is this sensitive, classified info? It's public info. Analysts mentioned had previous ties to SK intel agency (NIS). It was aired by SK cable channels several times since March 15. The only thing that's stopping accessing the info is the inability to decipher the source language

So that's the background on intel workers. Some may have been interacting with SK NIS workers conducting secret negotiations with Kim Yong-chol. who was holed up in a smoke-filled room in Walker Hill. Protesters kept him inside and no journos were allowed.
news.chosun.com/site/data/html…