The court ruling on the South Korean government's damages suit against North Korea over the bombing of the inter-Korean joint liaison office has been postponed at the request of the Ministry of Unification.

According to the legal community, the Seoul Central District Court Civil Settlement Division 46 has pushed back the sentencing date originally scheduled for tomorrow (the 12th) to September 16, following a request from the Unification Ministry.

Meeting with reporters at the Seoul Government Complex, a Unification Ministry official explained, "This is the first lawsuit filed against the North Korean authorities, and there were practical demands such as reviewing post-ruling measures, which is why we requested a postponement of the ruling."

Regarding the possibility of withdrawing the lawsuit, the official stated, "We are not reviewing that at this point."

Previously, in June 2023 under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, the Unification Ministry filed a lawsuit against North Korea to halt the statute of limitations (three years) for the claim for damages stemming from the liaison office bombing and to preserve state claims.

This marks the first lawsuit filed by the government, rather than an individual, against the North Korean authorities.

In the complaint, the plaintiff is listed as the Republic of Korea, and the defendant as the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea."

At the time, the Unification Ministry estimated the state property damage caused by the liaison office bombing at 44.7 billion KRW, which includes 10.25 billion KRW for the liaison office building and 34.45 billion KRW for the adjacent general support center.

While it is generally anticipated that the government will win the damages suit if North Korea ultimately fails to respond to the lawsuit, there are currently no means available to compel North Korea to fulfill the compensation even if the government wins.

The liaison office building was completed in December 2007 and used as the Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Consultation Office within the Kaesong Industrial Complex as well as a venue for inter-Korean talks, before going through twists and turns such as being shut down in 2010 due to North Korea's backlash against the May 24 sanctions.

In June 2020, the year following the "no-deal" Hanoi North Korea-U.S. summit, North Korea blew up the liaison office building, taking issue with anti-Pyongyang leafleting by some defector groups.

(Photo: Yonhap News)