In 2019, an elite team of US Navy SEALs entered North Korea on a covert mission to plant a surveillance device aimed at intercepting dictator Kim Jong Un’s communications, according to a report by the New York Times.
However, the operation was abruptly aborted after the SEALs encountered an unexpected boat along the North Korean shoreline, the report said.
The mission was carried out by SEAL Team 6’s Red Squadron, the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden and its objective was to gather critical intelligence during sensitive nuclear negotiations between then-US President Donald Trump and Kim.
US satellites also detected heightened North Korean military activity in the area, though it remains unclear whether Pyongyang understood what had transpired. Despite Trump’s meeting with Kim at the Vietnam summit shortly afterward, no breakthrough was achieved, and North Korea resumed missile testing in May 2019.
The mission raised legal concerns as Congress’s intelligence committees were reportedly not informed beforehand, a potential violation of federal law. The operation was never publicly acknowledged until now, though personnel involved were later promoted.
In 2021, the Biden administration quietly briefed lawmakers after reviewing, though its findings remain classified.
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