NYT: Navy SEAL Mission Into North Korea Fell Apart

A group of Navy SEALs secretly entered North Korea in early 2019 to plant a device to intercept the communications of dictator Kim Jong Un — but ended up firing on unarmed civilians diving for shellfish, puncturing their lungs to conceal their bodies and aborting the mission, according to a report.

The top-secret mission, reportedly authorized by President Trump during his first term, was carried out by SEAL Team 6’s Red Squadron — the same unit that killed Osama Bin Laden, the New York Times reported Friday.

If successful, the mission could have delivered critical intelligence amid delicate nuclear negotiations between Kim and Trump, the outlet reported based on interviews with two dozen people, including civilian government officials, members of the first Trump administration, and current and former military personnel with knowledge of the mission.

The mission was so risky that it required Trump’s direct approval. If SEALs were caught on North Korean soil, it could have sunk nuclear negotiations or led to a hostage situation, the report claimed.

“I don’t know anything about it. I’d have to, I could look, but I know nothing about it,” Trump told reporters Friday when asked about the alleged mission.

“I don’t know anything about it. I’m hearing it now for the first time.”

The SEALs rehearsed the mission for months in freezing water and planned to deploy from a nuclear-powered US submarine using two stealth mini-subs — known as “wet subs” — to reach the North Korean coast, the Times learned.

Riding for hours in frigid 40-degree seawater with scuba gear and heated suits, a team of about eight SEALs would swim to the shore, plant the device and stealthily escape without the help of overhead drones.

In February 2019, with Trump set to meet Kim in Vietnam later that month, the green light was issued for the mission, and the plan commenced, the outlet reported.

But the mission quickly unraveled once SEALs were ashore.

A North Korean fishing boat unexpectedly appeared in the darkness. With no way to communicate with the mission commander and fearing imminent discovery, a senior enlisted SEAL opened fire, with the other SEALs following suit — killing everyone onboard, the outlet reported.

SEALs then pulled the bodies into the water to conceal them and reportedly punctured their lungs with knives so they would sink, according to the Times.

Two to three civilians on the fishing boat were believed to be unarmed and diving for shellfish, sources familiar with the mission told the outlet.

The SEALs never planted the device and were forced to abort the mission.

US spy satellites detected a surge in North Korean military activity in the area immediately afterward, but it is not clear whether North Korean authorities ever pieced together what happened to the shellfish divers.

Trump’s talks with Kim at the Vietnam summit happened as planned, but no deal was reached. By May, North Korea resumed missile tests.

The 2019 mission had never been publicly acknowledged until the bombshell report, and the US government did not notify key congressional intelligence committees before or after the mission, which may have violated federal law, experts told the Times.

“The point is to ensure that Congress isn’t kept in the dark when major stuff is going on,” Matthew Waxman, a law professor at Columbia University who served in national security positions under former President George W. Bush, told the paper

“This is exactly the kind of thing that would normally be briefed to the committees and something the committees would expect to be told about,” Waxman said.

Many of the people involved in the mission were later promoted, the outlet said.

The SEAL mission was intended to fix strategic blind spots in US intelligence, as agencies had long struggled to monitor North Korean leadership or cultivate human sources in the dictator-run country.

When former President Joe Biden succeeded Trump, the North Korea mission attracted renewed scrutiny.

Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III ordered an independent investigation to be conducted by the lieutenant general in charge of the Army inspector general’s office.

In 2021, the Biden administration briefed key members of Congress on the findings, a former government official said, but the findings remain classified, the outlet reported.

The investigation’s findings remain classified.