The Seoul Central District Court ordered North Korea to pay South Korea 44,626,410,722 won ($32.5 million), plus delayed interest, for demolishing the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong in June 2020. The first-instance ruling granted the government's full damages claim, including 10.18 billion won for the liaison office and 34.45 billion won for the Kaesong Industrial Complex Comprehensive Support Center. The case marked the first time South Korea's government sought and won damages directly from the North Korean state. South Korea said it respects the judgment and will review necessary follow-up measures, though recovery remains difficult because it has no effective means to enforce payment. The office, opened in September 2018 during a period of high-level diplomacy between Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un, was destroyed after tensions over anti-Pyongyang leaflet balloons. Inter-Korean ties had deteriorated after Kim's February 2019 summit with United States President Donald Trump in Hanoi collapsed.