South Korea Court Orders North Korea to Pay $32.5 Million for Kaesong Blast

A South Korean court has ordered North Korea to pay 44.6 billion won (about $32.5 million) in compensation for the 2020 destruction of an inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong. The Seoul Central District Court issued the ruling on Wednesday, but enforcing the order could prove difficult because diplomatic relations between the two Koreas remain largely frozen.

South Korea filed the lawsuit in 2023, describing the demolition as an unlawful act that violated previous agreements and damaged trust between the two countries. It was the first time the South Korean government had taken North Korea to court over such an incident.

North Korea demolished the South Korean-built office in June 2020 after accusing Seoul of failing to prevent defectors from sending anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border. The facility had already been closed earlier that year because of North Korea’s coronavirus-related border restrictions and was empty when it was destroyed.

The demolition followed the breakdown of US-North Korea nuclear diplomacy after the 2019 summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un failed to produce an agreement on sanctions relief and denuclearisation.

Since then, North Korea has expanded its nuclear and missile programmes and strengthened ties with Russia and China. South Korea’s government has called for dialogue to address outstanding issues, but Pyongyang has not responded to recent diplomatic overtures.

The compensation ruling is therefore largely symbolic, with no immediate mechanism apparent for collecting the damages while inter-Korean relations remain strained.

Published: 55m ago

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