Court orders NK to pay S. Korea $32.5 mil. over 2020 demolition of liaison office
The inter-Korean liaison office building in the North Korean border town of Kaesong before being blown up by the North / Yonhap
A Seoul court ruled Wednesday that North Korea must pay about 44.6 billion won ($32.5 million) in compensation to the South Korean government for the 2020 demolition of an inter-Korean liaison office building in the North's border town of Kaesong.
The Seoul Central District Court issued the ruling three years and three months after the South Korean government filed its first lawsuit against North Korea.
The court effectively granted the full amount of 44,626,410,722 won claimed by the plaintiff, though it did not provide specific reasons for the ruling.
The two Koreas opened the liaison office in Kaesong in September 2018 to facilitate inter-Korean exchange and cooperation, amid a reconciliatory mood created by summit talks between their leaders in April that year. The office suspended its operations in January 2020 due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.
The North blew up the joint liaison office building on June 16, 2020, in protest of Seoul's failure to stop North Korean defectors from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.
The unification ministry sued North Korea in June 2023 over the incident, seeking compensation — the first time the South Korean government has taken legal action against the North.
The ministry estimated that the total damages included 10.25 billion won for the liaison office building itself and 34.45 billion won for an adjacent support facility, which was seriously damaged by the demolition.
The demolished inter-Korean liaison office in the North Korean border town of Kaesong is photographed from the South Korean border city of Paju on July 1, 2020, after the North blew up the building on June 16 that year. Yonhap
The court proceedings took place without any representative of North Korea. Despite winning the case, however, the plaintiff may find it difficult to actually collect the compensation, as has been the case with previous civil lawsuits against North Korea. South Korea has no means of forcing Pyongyang to make the payment.
South Korea's unification ministry said it "respects the court's ruling and will seek necessary measures."
"The ministry hopes that inter-Korean dialogue resumes, and the two Koreas can resolve all pending issues through dialogue," it said in a statement.
The ruling is expected to stand without further legal action as North Korea is unlikely to respond.