Trump-Approved 2019 SEAL Mission Killed North Korean Civilians

In 2019, President Donald Trump personally authorized a covert mission deploying Navy SEAL Team Six’s Red Squadron into North Korea to plant an electronic listening device aimed at intercepting communications of leader Kim Jong Un during high-stakes nuclear talks. The operation involved deploying commandos via a nuclear-powered submarine and mini-submarines to a remote North Korean shore. However, the mission went awry when the SEALs encountered civilians diving for shellfish, whom they mistakenly identified as security forces and subsequently killed. Following the incident, the SEALs concealed the bodies by removing them from the water and puncturing their lungs to ensure they sank, preventing discovery by North Korean authorities. The mission’s failure and resulting civilian deaths remained undisclosed publicly by North Korea, and U.S. officials remain uncertain if the regime ever learned of the incident. Communication blackout and technological limitations, such as the inability to use drones and reliance on night-vision that couldn’t detect chilled wetsuits, contributed to the tragic mistake during this highly sensitive operation.