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Seoul Court Orders North Korea to Pay $32.5 Million for 2020 Office Destruction

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Seoul Court Orders North Korea to Pay $32.5 Million for 2020 Office Destruction
Photo: A view of an explosion of a joint liaison office with South Korea in the North Korean border town of Kaesong in this picture supplied by the Korean Central News Agency on June 16, 2020 [KCNA via Reuters]

A court in Seoul has mandated that Pyongyang pay approximately $32.5 million in damages for the destruction of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office in June 2020. The office, located in North Korea, was established to improve relations between the two nations. A spokeswoman for the Seoul Central District Court informed the AFP news agency on Wednesday that "The court has ruled the North should pay the South Korean government 44.6 billion won in damages."

The Inter-Korean Liaison Office building was situated in the dormant Kaesong Industrial Complex, where South Korean companies previously employed North Korean workers. Pyongyang demolished the building in June 2020 following escalating tensions, which arose after activists in the South dispatched balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border. North Korea subsequently declared the office "useless."

This lawsuit, seeking damages for the destruction of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office, marks the first instance of the South Korean government directly pursuing compensation from the North Korean state, according to media reports. South Korea has stated it will "review the necessary follow-up measures," although experts believe it is improbable that Pyongyang will pay the damages for the demolition of the building in Kaesong, North Korea.

The case was initiated in 2023 under the administration of then-South Korean leader Yoon Suk-yeol. The office commenced operations in September 2018, shortly before then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited Pyongyang for his third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Approximately 20 officials from each side were stationed at the office in the subsequent months until its operations were suspended in January 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inter-Korean relations peaked in 2018 with three summits between Moon and Kim. However, ties worsened after a meeting between Kim and United States President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, failed in February 2019.

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