# Seoul court orders North Korea to pay $32.5m in damages

> First lawsuit seeking compensation from Pyongyang for blowing up liaison office in 2020, though payment is considered unlikely.
- Title: Seoul court orders North Korea to pay $32.5m in damages
- Summary: First lawsuit seeking compensation from Pyongyang for blowing up liaison office in 2020, though payment is considered unlikely. A Seoul court ordered North…
- Keywords: north korea, south korea, seoul, pyongyang, inter-korean liaison office, kaesong, kim jong un, moon jae-in, yoon suk yeol, seoul central district court, damages, inter-korean relations
- Source: Malay Mail — https://malaymail.com/news/world/2026/09/16/north-korea-ordered-to-pay-us325m-over-destruction-of-inter-korean-liaison-office/235391
- Published: 2026-09-16T11:33:11+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: north korea, south korea, seoul, pyongyang, inter-korean liaison office, kaesong, kim jong un, moon jae-in, yoon suk yeol, seoul central district court, damages, inter-korean relations
## Court orders $32.5m in damages
A Seoul court ruled that North Korea must pay roughly $32.5 million for demolishing the Inter-Korean Liaison Office in 2020. This marks the first time South Korea has sought damages directly from the North Korean state.
## Office meant to foster cooperation
The liaison office was built in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, where South Korean companies once employed North Korean workers. It opened in September 2018 with 20 officials from each side stationed there.
## Blown up amid rising tensions
Pyongyang destroyed the building in June 2020 after South Korean activists sent balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border. The North denounced the office as useless.
## Payment considered highly unlikely
Experts say Pyongyang will never pay the damages. North Korea maintains the demolition was justified and taken in response to faults by the South.

> It is simply impossible for the North to accept the responsibility and pay the damages
## Relations peaked in 2018
Inter-Korean relations reached a high point in 2018 when Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un held three summits. Operations at the office were suspended in January 2020 due to Covid-19.
## Ties collapsed after Hanoi summit
Relations deteriorated after a meeting between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump in Hanoi collapsed in February 2019. The lawsuit was filed in 2023 under hardline president Yoon Suk Yeol.
## Seoul still hopes for dialogue
South Korea's Unification Ministry said the government hopes inter-Korean dialogue will resume and all issues can be resolved through dialogue and cooperation.
## Key takeaway

A Seoul court ordered North Korea to pay $32.5 million for destroying the Inter-Korean Liaison Office in 2020, marking the first time South Korea has sued the North for damages.