Secret 2019 SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Exposed After Years of Secrecy
September 6, 2025 — Nearly six years after a covert U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6 operation sought to plant a spy device on North Korean soil during tense nuclear negotiations, the details of the classified mission have finally surfaced in the public domain. The botched mission, which ended in unintended fatalities and mission failure, had remained a closely guarded secret until now.
The mission, conducted in early 2019 under the authorisation of then-President Donald Trump, involved Red Squadron of SEAL Team 6—the elite unit famously responsible for the killing of Osama bin Laden. The objective was to deploy an electronic listening device to intercept communications from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, providing the United States a strategic intelligence advantage ahead of diplomatic summits between Trump and Kim.
However, upon stealthily approaching the North Korean coast from a nuclear-powered submarine and deploying mini-submarines, SEAL operators were confronted unexpectedly by a small North Korean fishing boat. Believing their presence was compromised, the SEALs opened fire, resulting in the deaths of North Korean civilians on the boat. The SEALs aborted the mission without planting the device, subsequently sinking the bodies to conceal the encounter.
For years, the U.S. government had neither publicly acknowledged nor commented on the operation. Media scrutiny increased only in early September 2025 when investigative reports based on multiple insider sources revealed the mission’s scope and failure. The first outlet to break this story was The New York Times on September 5, 2025, after extensive investigative journalism that included interviews with over two dozen people familiar with the classified operation. Their report detailed the mission’s risks, authorization process, and ramifications—explaining why such a sensitive episode had remained under wraps until now.
The news was met with denial from President Trump, who claimed he was unaware of the operation, and the Pentagon declined to comment. Experts note that such missions are often classified to protect intelligence capabilities and avoid diplomatic conflict. The delayed reporting reflects the journalistic effort to responsibly reveal the story without compromising ongoing or future special operations.
This disclosure has ignited debate over intelligence oversight, the risks of covert military actions near nuclear-armed adversaries, and the ethical implications surrounding the deaths of civilians during clandestine operations. As the diplomatic balance between the U.S. and North Korea remains delicate, the full impact of this revelation is yet to unfold.
