A court in Seoul, South Korea, has ordered North Korea to pay 44.6 billion won (about $32.5 million) in damages for demolishing an inter-Korean liaison office in the North Korean city of Kaesong in June 2020.
The building was established in 2018 as a channel for communication and cooperation between the two Koreas. North Korea destroyed it after tensions escalated over anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border by activists in South Korea.
The lawsuit, filed by South Korea in 2023, is reportedly the first time the South Korean government has directly sought damages from the North Korean state. The court awarded the government the amount it had claimed.
However, actually collecting the money is expected to be difficult because South Korea currently has no practical way to compel North Korea to pay. The ruling also includes interest on the damages.