Seoul court orders North Korea to pay $32.5m over liaison office demolition

The Seoul Central District Court has ordered North Korea to pay South Korea 44.6 billion won, approximately US$32.5 million, over the demolition of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office in Kaesong in June 2020.

The ruling, reported on 16 September, is described in available reporting as the first time the South Korean government has directly sought damages from the North Korean state. South Korea said it would review the necessary follow-up measures.

The liaison office opened in September 2018 inside the Kaesong Industrial Complex, with about 20 officials from each side. It was established to support improved relations between the two Koreas, but its operations were suspended in January 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

North Korea demolished the building after tensions rose over activists in South Korea sending balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border. Inter-Korean relations had already deteriorated after the February 2019 summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump in Hanoi collapsed.

South Korea filed the damages case in 2023. It remains unclear whether North Korea will acknowledge or comply with the court order.