North Korean Extraction Mission Brainstorming Pt. 1
I have been thinking about this for a while, but it took this post by Julie to motivate me into writing this up. Please take a second to read her post if you are unfamiliar with the story.
So, why haven’t we swooped in to save the day? Turns out that North Korea poses some unique challenges for the intelligence community.
For the most part, Kim’s culture of personality (AKA brain washing citizens to worship him like a God) has made human intelligence damn near impossible. We have no (known) North Korean moles or implants. In fact, of the (pathetically low) 1000 active CIA handlers, approximately zero of them run intel against North Korea.
The second big hurtle we face is Kim’s extreme isolationism. Even if there are some North Koreans unconvinced of Kim’s Godhood, they have no idea that a better place exists. The people who are caught attempting to escape are made harsh examples of leaving the impression that if there is somewhere better, it probably isn’t worth it to try and get there.
One giant advantage we have is our relationship with South Korea. I haven’t been able to dig up any info on their intelligence gathering capabilities, outside of the facts that they speak the language (lack of Korean speakers is another one of the CIA’s counter-intel barriers) and understand the culture. Not to mention the obvious: location.
Of course, a mission like this would need to be run covertly by either an agency like the CIA which will deny involvement if compromised, or, due to the civilian nature of the situation, a Private Military Contractor (PMC).
I have read academic papers on the rise of PMC’s in South Korea, but was unable to find one on the web due to my shoddy Korean. However, I’m sure they exist because South Korea has one of the World’s largest and most advanced militaries.
I’ve been brainstorming extraction scenarios, keeping these factors in mind. More posts to come…
-
jamesrap liked this
-
kylecooper posted this
