A secret U.S. Navy SEAL operation in 2019 aimed at planting surveillance equipment inside North Korea to monitor Kim Jong Un collapsed soon after it began, resulting in the deaths of several civilians, the New York Times revealed Friday.
The operation came in the first administration of President Donald Trump during sensitive nuclear talks with Kim, whom the U.S. leader met three times.
The mission was considered so risky that it required direct presidential approval, the Times said, but Trump insisted Friday he had no knowledge of the operation.
"I don't know anything about it. I'm hearing it now for the first time," the president told journalists.
Despite months of practice, the mission still went horribly wrong, the Times reported.
