▲ A set of images captured from footage of North Korea's Central Television on June 17, 2020, shows the North's demolition of an inter-Korean liaison office in the North's border town of Kaesong the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

Koreas-joint liaison office

S. Korea files damages suit against N. Korea over 2020 demolition of joint liaison office

SEOUL, June 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's unification ministry said Wednesday it lodged a damages suit against North Korea over Pyongyang's 2020 demolition of an inter-Korean liaison office in the North's border town of Kaesong.

The government filed the lawsuit with the Seoul Central District Court against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, seeking 44.7 billion won (US$35 million) as compensation for causing the loss of the South's state assets.

On June 16, 2020, the North blew up the joint liaison office in Kaesong in anger over Seoul's failure to stop North Korean defectors from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.

The legal action came as the statute of limitations for damages to property related to the case is set to expire Friday.

The government said the suit is aimed at exercising its claims for damages before the expiration of the statute of limitations and helping recoup the government's losses from the North's act.

"North Korea's demolition of the liaison office in a violent manner is blatantly an illegal act. The North has also violated related inter-Korean agreements and fundamentally has hampered the basis of mutual respect and trust between the two Koreas," the ministry said.

The government said it will "sternly" respond to the North's infringement on property rights by the government and South Koreans.

The two Koreas launched the liaison office in September 2018 to facilitate inter-Korean exchange and cooperation amid a reconciliatory mood created by summit talks between their leaders in April that year.

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