A US District Court has awarded the family of a South Korean pastor who was slain in North Korea $330 million in damages in a landmark ruling on Monday.
According to the Christian Post, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia awarded the damages to Israel Law Centre, which brought the case on behalf of the late Rev. Kim Dong-Shik's family.
The Christian Post said that the award includes $15 million dollars each to Kim's son and brother, as well as $300 million in punitive damages.
Kim was a South Korean and permanent US resident. He was abducted by North Korean agents while he was serving in China as a missionary in 2000. He was providing humanitarian and religious services to the families of North Koreans seeking asylum in China when he was abducted.
The Israel Law Centre and Kim's family brought the lawsuit against North Korea in 2009.
CP reported that the District Court initially refused to find liability against North Korea unless the complainants were able to produce evidence of the pastor's imprisonment in the Communist country and his subsequent murder. However, the court found liability after a North Korean agent later confessed to having turned over Rev. Kim to other agents who brought him to North Korea.
The agent was arrested by a South Korean court in April 2005 on charges of "planning and carrying out the abductions" of civilians in China and taking them back to North Korea.
Israel Law Center's Director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner praised the court's ruling.
"This is an unprecedented case and it comes at a vital time when the US is being urged to deliver Kim Jong-un a long overdue sanction," Darshan-Leitner said.
"This is an important human rights decision that will be utilised in all political abduction cases going forward."
