US Navy’s SEAL missions in N. Korea violating international law

(MENAFN) According to reports, the US Navy’s elite SEAL Team Six carried out a secret mission inside North Korea in 2019 that broke international law and resulted in civilian deaths. The operation, allegedly authorized by President Donald Trump during his first term, involved planting a surveillance device intended to monitor North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s communications and boost US leverage in nuclear talks.

Sources familiar with the mission stated that the commandos, known for the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden, deployed from submarines and used mini-submersibles to approach the coast. In the darkness, they failed to spot several men in a nearby boat and, believing them to be hostile, opened fire, killing two or three unarmed fishermen. The SEALs reportedly retrieved the bodies, punctured the lungs to make them sink, and aborted the mission before reaching the target.

Communication failures and outdated intelligence further complicated the operation. Commanders aboard supporting submarines could not maintain radio contact, drones were unavailable, and satellite imagery was not current, leaving the team without reliable information. A later military review determined the deaths stemmed from “an unfortunate sequence” of unforeseeable events rather than misconduct, though the report remained classified.

The operation was never shared with Congress, prompting questions about oversight and potential violations of US law, according to the reports. North Korea has not publicly acknowledged the incident, and it is unclear whether Pyongyang was aware of it until now.

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