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North reportedly conducted purge of spies in 2019 after failed SEAL mission: U.S. gov't

Published: 10 Sep. 2025, 10:40 Updated: 10 Sep. 2025, 10:56

U.S President Donald Trump, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un take a walk after their first meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi hotel, in Hanoi, Vietnam on Feb. 28, 2019. [AP/YONHAP]

North Korea reportedly carried out a large-scale purge of internal spies around the time of the 2019 Hanoi summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump, following what U.S. media described as a failed American wiretapping operation, a U.S. government source said.

The New York Times reported last Friday that the Trump administration in early 2019 dispatched Navy SEAL Team 6 into North Korean waters in an attempt to install surveillance equipment to intercept Kim’s communications.

The mission ended in failure after U.S. forces encountered a North Korean fishing vessel, killed civilians and then withdrew, according to the report. The operation had been prepared in secret for months and was reportedly approved directly by Trump.

Neither the United States nor North Korea has ever disclosed the mission, and it was not reported to congressional intelligence oversight committees. The New York Times noted this may have constituted a violation of mandatory reporting rules.

A U.S. government source said Tuesday, “We cannot confirm the accuracy of the report,” but added, “There was indeed a large-scale spy purge in North Korea at the time.”

Washington’s carefully built human intelligence networks, or Humint, are believed to have been severely damaged as a result.

Even so, Pyongyang did not cut diplomatic channels. Kim went ahead with the Hanoi summit in February 2019 and later met Trump at Panmunjom that June.

“One assessment is that while distrust toward the United States deepened, North Korea chose to continue diplomatic engagement,” a South Korean official said.

Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong-un’s sister, also remarked in July last year that “the personal relationship between our leader and the current U.S. president is not bad.”

North Korea has not made any public statement regarding the operation, including in response to the latest reporting. Asked by reporters, Trump also denied acknowledgment, saying he had never heard about the operation.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY BAE JAE-SUNG [[email protected]]