The U.S. is reportedly conducting training to enter North Korean territory with the objective of “infiltrating” and “removing weapons of mass destruction,” according to foreign military sources.

The recently finished military exercise conducted with South Korean forces called Warrior Strike IX, shows a military unit conducting training with night-vision equipment, armored vehicles, and full-face protective gear, including gas masks. However, the pictures that were made public look more like conventional troops than SOF.

According to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, which quoted anonymous military sources, the combined exercise was designed to simulate “infiltrating North Korea and removing weapons of mass destruction in case of conflict.” An Army spokesperson stationed in South Korea declined to comment.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has suggested repeatedly that one of his main goals in Korea was to avoid sending U.S. forces into North Korean territory. But he also seemed to concede last week that is a scenario that might need to be addressed.

On Dec. 13, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert reiterated to reporters what Tillerson has described as the four things he won’t do when it comes to North Korea – a list he calls the “four no’s.”

“We are not seeking the collapse of the North Korean regime. We are not seeking regime change. We are not seeking the accelerated reunification of the Korean Peninsula. And we are not seeking an excuse to send our military north of the [border with South Korea],” according to Nauert.

John Bolton, a former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. and a Fox News contributor …sees when it comes to North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is to convince China to support a regime change in Pyongyang.

“We’re either going to have to kind of play it using military force, or accept that North Korea will be the nuclear arms sale center of the world – to Iran, to terrorist groups, to other third-world countries that have nuclear aspirations,” Bolton said. “That is not a future I look forward to,” he added.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has become terrified about an assassination plot and is now paranoid about his security according to the report. So, he’s bought in totally that the U.S. and South Korea are serious about regime change.

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Photo courtesy: US Army