Seoul Court Orders North Korea to Pay $32.5 Million Over Destroyed Liaison Office

A court in Seoul has ordered North Korea to pay about 44.6 billion won, equivalent to roughly 32.5 million dollars, to the South Korean government over the destruction of an inter-Korean liaison office in 2020.

The Inter-Korean Liaison Office in Kaesong was built to improve relations between the two Koreas. North Korea demolished the building in June 2020 following growing tensions after activists in South Korea sent balloons carrying anti-North Korean leaflets across the border.

The case, filed in 2023, is the first time the South Korean government has directly sought damages from North Korea for such an action. Seoul says it will review the next steps, although analysts consider it unlikely that Pyongyang will pay the ordered damages.

The office opened in September 2018 during a period of improved relations between the two countries. Operations were later suspended in January 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, before relations deteriorated further.

Written by News Room