The South Korean Ministry of Unification stated on September 16 that it respects the court's ruling regarding the explosion of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office and will consider necessary measures.
On this day, the Seoul Central District Court's Civil Division 46 ordered North Korea to pay the South Korean government 44.6 billion won in a damages lawsuit. This marks the first time the South Korean government has filed a direct lawsuit against North Korea.
North Korea destroyed the Inter-Korean Liaison Office in Kaesong in June 2020, citing the distribution of anti-North Korean leaflets by some defector groups as the reason. The Ministry of Unification filed the lawsuit in June 2023, just before the three-year statute of limitations for the damages claim expired, to preserve the national claim.
The Ministry assessed the damages at 10.25 billion won for the liaison office building and 34.45 billion won for the adjacent support center, totaling 44.7 billion won. The court largely accepted the amount claimed by the government.
The ruling, originally scheduled for August 12, was postponed at the request of the Ministry of Unification to allow time to consider a response.
The Ministry expressed hope that inter-Korean dialogue would resume and that all issues between the two Koreas could be resolved through dialogue and cooperation.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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