A 2019 mission in North Korea, intended to deploy Navy SEALs to plant an electronic device for intercepting communications from the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, ended in failure and resulted in the deaths of unarmed North Koreans, according to a New York Times report published on Friday.
The operation, which occurred during President Donald Trump’s first term, required the president’s direct approval, the Times reported, and unfolded amid high-level nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea.
The White House and Pentagon declined to comment. CNN has also reached out to the U.S. Special Operations Command and North Korea’s permanent mission to the United Nations in New York for comment on the report.
According to the Times, SEAL Team Six’s Red Squadron rehearsed for months for a plan that involved slipping a nuclear-powered submarine into North Korean waters, accompanied by two mini-subs carrying SEALs who would motor along the shore before swimming to the target to install the electronic device.
SEAL Team Six, a secretive U.S. military unit formed in 1980, has conducted a range of covert, high-risk missions, including the 2011 operation in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden.
The Times reported that during the operation, when a North Korean boat—later evidence suggested it carried two or three civilians diving for shellfish—approached in the water, the SEALs opened fire and killed them. The report also states that the Trump administration did not notify key members of Congress.
The relationship between the United States and North Korea, a highly isolated nation, has been turbulent over the years. In 2017, Trump issued an ultimatum to North Korea, warning that further threats against the U.S. would be met with “fire and fury like the world has never seen.” This came as U.S. intelligence analysts assessed that North Korea had produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead.
Kim and Trump went on to exchange a series of flatteries and letters in 2018 and 2019, following the significant tensions of 2017. They participated in a series of unprecedented summits in 2018, featuring effusive declarations of a new friendship but vague pledges on nuclear disarmament.
In 2019, Trump made history as the first sitting U.S. leader to set foot in the hermit kingdom, shaking hands with Kim and taking 20 steps into North Korea. Meanwhile, the Biden administration adopted a different strategy, focused on displays of strength and unity with South Korea, as well as incremental progress toward denuclearization, CNN reported at the time.
