In 2019, a group of Navy SEALs entered North Korea for a top secret mission to plant a spy device to intercept communications of dictator Kim Jong Un, however, the mission was aborted as SEALs ended up encountering an unexpected boat at the North Korean shore.
The mission was carried out by SEAL Team 6’s Red Squadron – the same unit that killed Osama Bin Laden, per a report by the New York Times.
The mission aimed to retrieve critical intelligence amid nuclear negotiations between US President Donald Trump and Kim as it was difficult to place human sources in North Korea and or monitor their leadership.
Moreover, it was a risky mission that involved direct approval from the US president. Failure of the mission could lead to the collapse of nuclear negotiations or a hostage situation.
The mission was given a go-ahead after Trump was set to meet Kim in Vietnam in February 2019.
“I don’t know anything about it. I’d have to, I could look, but I know nothing about it,” Trump told reporters on Friday when he was asked about the alleged mission. He claimed that he was hearing about the mission for the first time.
The preparation for the SEALs involved rehearsing the mission for months in freezing water and planned to deploy from a nuclear-powered US submarine. Two stealth mini-subs or “wet subs” would aid them in order to reach the North Korean coast.
The plan would be for the SEALs to ride for hours in frigid 4 degrees celsius with scuba gear and heated suits, reach the shore, plant the covert device, and finally escape without being spotted by drones.
That is not how the mission went though. Once ashore, the SEALs detected a North Korean fishing boat unexpectedly appearing in the darkness. After realising that there was no way to communicate with the mission commander and risking discovery, a senior enlisted SEAL started firing with other SEALs joining in. They killed everyone on board, pulled the bodies in water and punctured their lungs with knives so they would sink.
The three civilians killed were unarmed and diving for shellfish, per the report.
The device was never planted and the mission was aborted.
A surge in North Korean military activity near the area where the firing had happened was detected by US spy satellites, but it’s unclear if they understood what took place in the scene.
Although Trump spoke to Kim during the Vietnam summit, no deal was reached. North Korea resumed missile tests in May.
The mission may have violated federal law as the US government did not inform key congressional intelligence committees before or after the mission.
The 2019 mission has never been publicly acknowledged until the report, although people involved in the mission were later promoted. Later on in 2021, the Biden administration briefed key members of Congress about the mission after launching an investigation into the mission, but the findings remain classified.
