Trump's Aborted SEAL Team 6 Killed Innocent Fishermen.
SEAL Team 6 infiltrated North Korea in a mission gone wrong.
A report by the New York Times details a complex and risky operation in 2019 to spy on North Korea's leader that ended when the SEALs aborted the mission, killing three fishermen who had stumbled across them.
By Nicholas Slayton/Task and Purpose.com
Published Sep 5, 2025 3:06 PM EDT
Navy SEALs infiltrated North Korea in 2019 in a mission that fell apart, according to a story published in the New York Times Friday. The investigation outlined extensive and massive planning that went into a secret move to plant a listening device inside North Korea and how the operation fell apart when SEALs came across a boat of civilians.
The New York Times said it spoke with two dozen people familiar with the classified operation, and held back several details that its reporters felt would harm security or future operations if disclosed. Task & Purpose reached out to the Department of Defense to confirm or comment on the New York Times’ revelations. A spokesperson for the department declined to comment.
The mission involved SEALs from Red Squadron of Seal Team 6, or the Navy Special Warfare Development Group, the same unit that killed Osama Bin Laden. The SEALs were tasked with sneaking onto a remote shore in North Korea to install an electronic listening device that would be able to intercept messages from Kim Jong-Un. At the time, tensions between the United States and North Korea were elevated with both Kim and President Donald Trump warning of conflict over Pyongyang’s nuclear program. Trump had repeatedly taken to Twitter to issue threats to Kim. A summit in 2018 saw a pause in nuclear and missile testing and the two leaders were setting up a second summit, this time in Hanoi in February 2019. The military was tasked with installing the listening device so the U.S. could have better intelligence going into that meeting.
Trump authorized the mission, ordering U.S. military personnel to infiltrate a sovereign nation that had for decades prepared for a resumption of war on the peninsula against South Korean and American troops. Joint Special Operations Command prepared a massive operation that involved a submarine, SEAL Team 6, SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1 and several other military assets including Navy ships and aircraft carrying additional special operations forces held in reserve.
There were immediate problems. Due to North Korean security, the SEALs had to go in nearly blind, with no drones or aircraft overhead relaying pictures or intelligence. Once deployed, the SEALs would be mostly on their own.
In early 2019, the SEALs deployed on two mini subs from a Navy submarine. They parked about 100 yards from shore underwater — one having to make a U-turn after overshooting the landing spot — and swam closer, occasionally peeking above the water.
But a small boat carrying three people in diving suits was already in the otherwise empty landing spot. The boat moved towards the submarines and a man in a diving suit jumped into the sea. According to the Times’ reporting, the senior enlisted SEAL of the raid team opened fire, with the other SEALs following his lead.
All three men on the boat were killed and the mission aborted. The SEALs sank the dead bodies to the sea floor and returned to the submarine. It was later determined the three people killed were civilian fishermen.
Neither Pyongyang or Washington acknowledged the botched operation (it remained unclear if Pyongyang had caught on to the operation). Kim and Trump met for two days at the end of February in Hanoi and again in the summer at the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
When President Joe Biden took office in 2021 he and his defense secretary Lloyd Austin ordered an investigation into the 2019 mission. Key members of Congress were then informed of the findings.
The New York Times reporting also revealed another infiltration by SEALs two decades prior. Per the paper, a team of Navy SEALs crossed into North Korea in 2005 under orders from then-President George W. Bush.
North Korea continues to maintain its nuclear program. It is believed to possess several dozen nuclear weapons.
Nicholas Slayton is a Contributing Editor for Task & Purpose. In addition to covering breaking news, he writes about history, shipwrecks, and the military’s hunt for unidentified anomalous phenomenon (formerly known as UFOs).
A report by the New York Times details a complex and risky operation in 2019 to spy on North Korea's leader that ended when the SEALs aborted the mission, killing three fishermen who had stumbled across them.
By Nicholas Slayton/Task and Purpose.com
Published Sep 5, 2025 3:06 PM EDT
Navy SEALs infiltrated North Korea in 2019 in a mission that fell apart, according to a story published in the New York Times Friday. The investigation outlined extensive and massive planning that went into a secret move to plant a listening device inside North Korea and how the operation fell apart when SEALs came across a boat of civilians.
The New York Times said it spoke with two dozen people familiar with the classified operation, and held back several details that its reporters felt would harm security or future operations if disclosed. Task & Purpose reached out to the Department of Defense to confirm or comment on the New York Times’ revelations. A spokesperson for the department declined to comment.
The mission involved SEALs from Red Squadron of Seal Team 6, or the Navy Special Warfare Development Group, the same unit that killed Osama Bin Laden. The SEALs were tasked with sneaking onto a remote shore in North Korea to install an electronic listening device that would be able to intercept messages from Kim Jong-Un. At the time, tensions between the United States and North Korea were elevated with both Kim and President Donald Trump warning of conflict over Pyongyang’s nuclear program. Trump had repeatedly taken to Twitter to issue threats to Kim. A summit in 2018 saw a pause in nuclear and missile testing and the two leaders were setting up a second summit, this time in Hanoi in February 2019. The military was tasked with installing the listening device so the U.S. could have better intelligence going into that meeting.
Trump authorized the mission, ordering U.S. military personnel to infiltrate a sovereign nation that had for decades prepared for a resumption of war on the peninsula against South Korean and American troops. Joint Special Operations Command prepared a massive operation that involved a submarine, SEAL Team 6, SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1 and several other military assets including Navy ships and aircraft carrying additional special operations forces held in reserve.
There were immediate problems. Due to North Korean security, the SEALs had to go in nearly blind, with no drones or aircraft overhead relaying pictures or intelligence. Once deployed, the SEALs would be mostly on their own.
In early 2019, the SEALs deployed on two mini subs from a Navy submarine. They parked about 100 yards from shore underwater — one having to make a U-turn after overshooting the landing spot — and swam closer, occasionally peeking above the water.
But a small boat carrying three people in diving suits was already in the otherwise empty landing spot. The boat moved towards the submarines and a man in a diving suit jumped into the sea. According to the Times’ reporting, the senior enlisted SEAL of the raid team opened fire, with the other SEALs following his lead.
All three men on the boat were killed and the mission aborted. The SEALs sank the dead bodies to the sea floor and returned to the submarine. It was later determined the three people killed were civilian fishermen.
Neither Pyongyang or Washington acknowledged the botched operation (it remained unclear if Pyongyang had caught on to the operation). Kim and Trump met for two days at the end of February in Hanoi and again in the summer at the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
When President Joe Biden took office in 2021 he and his defense secretary Lloyd Austin ordered an investigation into the 2019 mission. Key members of Congress were then informed of the findings.
The New York Times reporting also revealed another infiltration by SEALs two decades prior. Per the paper, a team of Navy SEALs crossed into North Korea in 2005 under orders from then-President George W. Bush.
North Korea continues to maintain its nuclear program. It is believed to possess several dozen nuclear weapons.
Nicholas Slayton is a Contributing Editor for Task & Purpose. In addition to covering breaking news, he writes about history, shipwrecks, and the military’s hunt for unidentified anomalous phenomenon (formerly known as UFOs).
