SEOUL COURT ORDERS NORTH KOREA TO PAY $32.5M OVER OFFICE DEMOLITION

A court in Seoul has ordered North Korea to pay the South Korean government roughly $32.5m, or 44.6 billion won, in damages for destroying the Inter-Korean Liaison Office in 2020, a spokeswoman for the Seoul Central District Court said. The building stood in the North Korean city of Kaesong. The lawsuit marks the first time the South Korean government has sought damages directly from the North Korean state, according to media reports. North Korea blew up the office in June 2020 after days of rising tension between the two countries, having been intended to help foster better relations between them.

The office opened in September 2018, days before then South Korean President Moon Jae-in travelled to Pyongyang for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. It stood in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, where South Korean companies had previously employed North Korean workers. About 20 officials from each side worked at the office until operations were suspended in January 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. North Korea destroyed the building after activists in the South sent balloons carrying leaflets critical of Pyongyang across the border, with North Korea calling the office "useless". Inter-Korean relations had reached a high point in 2018, when Moon and Kim held three summits.

South Korea's then government, led by Yoon Suk-yeol, filed the lawsuit in 2023, having taken a firm stance towards North Korea. Yoon was later removed from office following his December 2024 declaration of martial law. The South Korean government said it would review the necessary follow-up measures after the ruling. Experts said they consider it unlikely that North Korea will ever pay the damages ordered by the court.