Washington: A clandestine operation by SEAL Team 6, the elite US Navy unit renowned for eliminating Osama bin Laden, unraveled in North Korea in 2019 after an unexpected encounter with civilians derailed the mission, according to a report published by The New York Times.
The mission, carried out by Red Squadron of SEAL Team 6, was authorized at the highest levels of government and was intended to plant a covert surveillance device on the North Korean coast. Intelligence officials hoped the device would provide critical insights into the communications of Kim Jong Un’s inner circle during a fragile period of nuclear diplomacy between then-US President Donald Trump and the North Korean leader.
The plan, approved shortly before the Trump-Kim summit in Vietnam in February 2019, represented one of the riskiest intelligence operations undertaken in years. Officials acknowledged that the stakes were enormous: discovery could have sabotaged nuclear negotiations, triggered a military crisis, or even led to American commandos being taken hostage.
Trump, when asked about the report on Friday, denied knowledge of the mission, telling reporters, “I don’t know anything about it. I could look, but I know nothing about it.”
According to accounts of those briefed on the mission, SEALs trained for months in icy waters, rehearsing scenarios for a stealth infiltration. The unit planned to deploy from a nuclear-powered submarine, using two specialized “wet subs” to approach the North Korean shoreline. The operation required them to endure hours submerged in near-freezing temperatures while wearing heated suits and carrying scuba gear.
The objective was to slip undetected past aerial drones, land ashore, install the electronic device, and escape without leaving a trace.
But the mission unraveled almost immediately upon reaching land. In the dead of night, the SEALs stumbled upon a North Korean fishing boat that had appeared unexpectedly. Lacking the ability to alert their commander without compromising secrecy, the team faced a split-second decision.
According to the report, a senior enlisted SEAL opened fire, quickly joined by others in the squad. The fishermen unarmed and diving for shellfish were killed. Their bodies were dragged into the water, and in a gruesome detail, punctured to ensure they would sink.
The surveillance device was never deployed, and the mission was aborted.
In the days that followed, US satellites detected unusual North Korean military activity in the vicinity, though analysts remain uncertain whether Pyongyang understood the cause.
Despite Trump and Kim’s high-profile meeting in Hanoi, the summit ended without an agreement. Within months, North Korea resumed missile testing, underscoring the fragility of the talks.
The episode raises troubling legal and political questions. Under US law, the executive branch is required to inform congressional intelligence committees of covert operations. Yet the committees were neither briefed before nor immediately after the 2019 mission.
It was not until 2021, under President Joe Biden, that senior lawmakers were given a classified briefing on the botched operation, as part of a broader internal review. The findings of that inquiry remain undisclosed, but some of those directly involved in the mission were subsequently promoted.
Until the New York Times revelations, the mission had never been publicly acknowledged. Analysts warn that its exposure highlights the extraordinary risks of covert US operations in North Korea, one of the most tightly sealed nations in the world.
With tensions on the Korean Peninsula simmering once again, the failed mission serves as a stark reminder of the perilous balance between high-stakes espionage and geopolitical diplomacy.