Court orders Pyongyang to pay N. Korean defector damages for torture

A South Korean court ruled Friday that North Korea must compensate a North Korean defector who claims she was tortured while detained in the North.

The Seoul Central District Court made the ruling in a lawsuit filed by Choi Min-kyung, head of the North Korea Imprisonment Victims' Family Association, against the Pyongyang regime in July last year, seeking 50 million won ($36,300) in compensation for her suffering.

Choi claimed that she defected from North Korea in 1997 but was forcibly repatriated in 2008 while staying in China, after which she suffered human rights violations, including sexual abuse, physical violence and inhumane treatment, during about five months in detention facilities in the North.

Choi said litigation against North Korea is possible in South Korean courts, citing the South Korean Constitution's definition of the entire Korean Peninsula as its territory and its recognition of people in the North as South Korean citizens.

The court hearings proceeded without any party representing the defendants. Despite winning the case, however, it may be difficult for the plaintiff to actually receive the compensation, as in previous civil lawsuits filed against North Korea.