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Wed, January 27, 2021 | 22:50
Naver
US court orders NK to pay $330m over pastor's death
미국 법원 "북한, 김동식 목사 유족에 3천억원 배상"
Posted : 2015-04-16 16:00
Updated : 2015-04-16 17:42
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By Lee Min-hyung

Kim Dong-shik
Kim Dong-shik
A United States court has ordered North Korea to pay $330 million (359 billion won) to the relatives of a South Korean pastor believed to have been tortured to death in the North in 2001.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia judged on April 9 that the North should pay $300 million in punitive damages and $15 million each to Kim Dong-shik's brother and son, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Kim, who had permanent resident status in the U.S., had worked as a missionary among North Korean defectors in China before North Korean spies kidnapped him in 2000. He is presumed to have died the next year in a prison camp.

The North has denied any involvement.

"This is an important human rights decision that will be utilized in all political abduction cases going forward," said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, a lawyer representing Kim's family and a founder of Shurat HaDin, an Israel-based civil rights group.

Shurat HaDin is searching for North Korean assets for possible confiscation.

"This includes bank accounts, real property and shares in companies," Darshan-Leitner said. "When we find them, we will domesticate the judgment in the local jurisdiction and proceed to execute against the North Korean property. We intend to enforce the entire $330 million award for the family of Reverend Kim."

The lawsuit had earlier been dismissed for lack of evidence that the regime had tortured Kim to death. But an appeals court reversed the ruling in December, citing testimony from witnesses about the regime's notorious prison camps.

"The court decision marks the first time that an American court has concluded that a foreign regime which abducts an individual, who is then never heard from again, has the burden of proving that he has not been murdered," Shurat HaDin said Monday.


미국 법원 "북한, 김동식 목사 유족에 3천억원 배상"

지난 2001년 북한 감옥에서 고문 후유증 끝에 사망한 것으로 알려진 고 김동식 목사 유족에게 북한이 3억3천만 달러(한화 3천615억원)를 배상하라는 미국 법원의 판결이 나왔다.

김 목사 유족을 대리해 소송을 제기한 이스라엘 민간단체 슈랏 하딘의 닛사나 다르샨-라이트너 대표는 15일 미국 자유아시아방송(RFA)과 가진 인터뷰에서 미국 연방항소법원으로부터 이 같은 판결 내용을 받았다고 밝혔다.

다르샨-라이트너 대표는 '법원이 김 목사 사망에 북한 정부가 책임이 없다면 증거를 제출해야 한다며 배상금을 산정해 발표했다'고 밝혔다.

그는 '아들과 형에게 심리적 피해에 대한 위로금으로 각각 1천500만 달러, 징벌적 피해보상금으로 3억달러를 산정했다'고 설명했다.  

그는 '북한이 유해를 보내주지 않는 상황에서 법원이 김 목사의 죽음에 북한 당국의 책임이 있다고 판결했다는데 큰 의미가 있다'고 강조했다.

앞서 지난해 12월 미국 워싱턴DC 연방순회항소법원은 북한의 책임을 입증하기 어렵다는 1심 판결을 뒤집고 '김 목사가 고문을 당하고 사망에 이른데 대해 북한이 책임을 져야 한다'고 판결했다.  

김 목사는 지난 2000년 북한 공작원들에게 납치돼 이듬해 북한 감옥에서 고문 후유증 끝에 사망한 것으로 알려졌다. (연합뉴스)
Emailmhlee@ktimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter









 
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