The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 5th (local time) that a U.S. Navy special forces unit took charge of the so-called "Kim Jong-un eavesdropping" top-secret operation in 2019 and penetrated into North Korean waters, but failed because a ship carrying civilians appeared.
The New York Times quoted dozens of current and former U.S. officials as saying the same day. The New York Times also reported that the situation at the time of Donald Trump's first term in office has been kept confidential until now.
According to reports, SEAL Team 6, the best of the U.S. Navy's special forces, was put into operation at the time.
SEAL Team 6 is a commando unit that was deployed in the operation to remove Osama bin Laden, which masterminded the September 11 attacks. In early 2019, they infiltrated into the mid-night winter sea by submarine to install electronic devices on the North Korean coast that could eavesdrop on Kim Jong-un's communications.
In this regard, the NYT explained that it was an attempt to secure a strategic advantage for the U.S. at the U.S.-North Korea summit, which began in 2018. At that time, President Trump was continuing his 2018 Singapore summit with Kim and 2019 Hanoi summit in Vietnam, and the U.S. tried to eavesdrop on Kim in preparation for denuclearization negotiations with North Korea, the New York Times reported.
However, as soon as some of them arrived at the coast, a ship carrying several North Korean civilians appeared on the dark sea, and the special forces exterminated them for fear of detection and returned to the submarine, leaving the operation a failure. The dead are believed to be unarmed shellfish fishermen.
With President Trump recently expressing interest in resuming summit diplomacy with Chairman Kim, attention is being paid to the impact of the report on diplomacy between the two countries.
If Chairman of the states Affairs Commission Kim identified the issue through this NYT report, the possibility of a more passive attitude toward U.S.-North Korea dialogue cannot be ruled out amid distrust of President Trump.
LINK: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/us/navy-seal-north-korea-trump-2019.html
