[국제]US Court “Reimburse 2.5 trillion won for the arrest of North Korea’s Pueblo”

[앵커]

A U.S. court ruled in 1968 to compensate North Korea for the capture of a U.S. intelligence box, the Pueblo, in compensation of $2.3 billion and KRW 2.5 trillion.

It is observed that after the breakdown of the Hanoi-North Korea summit, it could act as another negative factor in the long-term cooling of the US-North Korea relationship.

Reporter Jo Soo-hyun reports.

[기자]

On January 23, 1968, the US Navy Intelligence Collector Pueblo was kidnapped by North Korea on a mission in the East Sea of ​​North Korea.

One person was killed in the arrest process, and the remaining 82 were detained.

North Korea released them only in December of that year after the US signed an apology apologizing for the invasion of North Korean territorial waters.

However, in 2018, surviving sailors and their bereaved families filed a class action lawsuit in a U.S. court for torture, cruelty, and mental abuse during their abduction by North Korea.

In this case, the Washington DC federal court ruled in reparation of $2.3 billion or 2.5 trillion won to North Korea.

In addition, the punitive compensation for the North Korean regime was set at $1.1 billion.

This is the largest reparation order ever issued by a US court against North Korea.

North Korea did not respond much during the litigation process, and the prospect is predominantly that it will not respond to the US order of compensation.

With the observation that this ruling could be a negative factor that makes it more difficult to improve relations with the United States, attention is focused on whether the US will use it as a sanctions measure against North Korea.

This is YTN Soohyun Cho.

[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]