US Navy SEALs killed North Korean civilians in botched 2019 mission

[MasqueradeOverture]

Quote

A group of Navy SEALs emerged from the ink-black ocean on a winter night in early 2019 and crept to a rocky shore in North Korea. They were on a top secret mission so complex and consequential that everything had to go exactly right.

The objective was to plant an electronic device that would let the United States intercept the communications of North Korea's reclusive leader, Kim Jong-un, amid high-level nuclear talks with President Trump.

Quote

It was so risky that it required the president's direct approval.

Quote

For the operation, the military chose SEAL Team 6's Red Squadron — the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden. The SEALs rehearsed for months, aware that every move needed to be perfect. But when they reached what they thought was a deserted shore that night, wearing black wet suits and night-vision goggles, the mission swiftly unraveled.

A North Korean boat appeared out of the dark. Flashlights from the bow swept over the water. Fearing that they had been spotted, the SEALs opened fire. Within seconds, everyone on the North Korean boat was dead.

The SEALs retreated into the sea without planting the listening device.

Quote

The 2019 operation has never been publicly acknowledged, or even hinted at, by the United States or North Korea. The details remain classified and are being reported here for the first time. The Trump administration did not notify key members of Congress who oversee intelligence operations, before or after the mission. The lack of notification may have violated the law.

The White House declined to comment.

Quote

The shore team swam to the boat to make sure that all of the North Koreans were dead. They found no guns or uniforms. Evidence suggested that the crew, which people briefed on the mission said numbered two or three people, had been civilians diving for shellfish. All were dead, including the man in the water.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/us/navy-seal-north-korea-trump-2019.html

We live in a real life Cohen Bros movie.

[Dark_Cloud_Overhead]

SMH

I mean stuff like this happens in real life. Even the best of us are capable of screwing up on occasion. That his administration didn't inform congress at all about this and tried -- no did -- cover up that it ever happened for so long though. Geez. And this was during his first term when there were supposed to be at least some level-headed, responsible people there. I get that they classified it making it so the generals who were aware of it had to remain silent about it, but I still can't believe they managed to bury this so well that it never leaked for all this time.