(LEAD) Court orders N. Korea to pay S. Korea 44.6 bln won over 2020 demolition of liaison office

A Seoul court has ordered North Korea to compensate South Korea $32.5 million for the demolition of a liaison office in Kaesong, the court ruled on Wednesday. The decision comes three years and three months after the South Korean government initiated legal proceedings against Pyongyang. The court awarded the full sum of 44,626,410,722 won, as claimed by the plaintiff, without providing the rationale behind the ruling.

The liaison office in Kaesong was established in September 2018 to promote inter-Korean exchange and cooperation, following a period of friendly relations sparked by summit meetings between the leaders of the two nations in April 2018. The office ceased operations in January 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, North Korea destroyed the joint liaison office building, in response to Seoul's inability to prevent North Korean defectors from distributing anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.