Law & Justice
North Korea ordered to pay Seoul $32.5m over office
A Seoul court ordered North Korea on Wednesday to pay South Korea 44.6 billion won, about $32.5 million, over Pyongyang's 2020 demolition of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office in Kaesong, a court spokeswoman told AFP.
The Seoul Central District Court ruling came in a lawsuit filed in 2023. Media reports said it was the first time the South Korean government had sought damages directly from the North Korean state.
South Korea's Unification Ministry said the government would “review the necessary follow-up measures” and hoped inter-Korean dialogue would resume.
The office was built in the dormant Kaesong Industrial Complex, where South Korean companies once employed North Korean workers. It opened in September 2018, shortly before then South Korean president Moon Jae-in travelled to Pyongyang for his third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
About 20 officials from each side were stationed there in the following months. Operations were suspended in January 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
North Korea blew up the building in June 2020 after days of rising tensions over activists in South Korea sending balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border. Pyongyang had denounced the office as “useless”.
Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP it was “simply impossible” for North Korea to accept responsibility and pay damages, saying Pyongyang maintains the demolition was justified.
Update
A Seoul Central District Court spokeswoman told AFP the court ordered North Korea to pay 44.6 billion won in damages.
Media reports said the lawsuit was the first time South Korea's government sought damages directly from the North Korean state.
South Korea's Unification Ministry said it would review necessary follow-up measures and hoped inter-Korean issues could be resolved through dialogue and cooperation.
Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification said it was unlikely North Korea would accept responsibility or pay damages.
Source note: AFP news report published on 16 September 2026 at 02:25:12 UTC.
Update
The office was built in the dormant Kaesong Industrial Complex, where South Korean companies once employed North Korean workers.
North Korea blew up the building in June 2020 after tensions over activists in South Korea sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.
The office opened in September 2018, shortly before then South Korean president Moon Jae-in travelled to Pyongyang for a summit with Kim Jong Un.
Around 20 officials from each side were stationed at the office before operations were suspended in January 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Source note: AFP news report published on 16 September 2026 at 01:30:45 UTC.
Update
Yonhap reported that the Seoul Central District Court ordered North Korea to pay 44.6 billion won in damages.
The damages relate to the 2020 demolition of an office in North Korea intended to foster relations between the two Koreas.
Source note: AFP news report published on 16 September 2026 at 01:18:39 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
Whether North Korea will respond to the ruling or pay damages remains unclear.
Source
AFP news report published on .