The South Korean government is demanding 35 million dollars in damages from North Korea for destroying a joint inter-Korean liaison office three years ago.

North Korea blew up the office in the border city of Kaesong in June 2020, after a group of North Korean defectors in South Korea circulated leaflets criticizing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

South Korea's Unification Ministry said on Wednesday that it filed the lawsuit with the Seoul Central District Court before the third anniversary of the incident on Friday.

The ministry is seeking 44.7 billion won, or about 35 million dollars, in damages for the office building and an adjacent facility.

It took legal action to prevent the statute of limitations for property damage related to the incident from expiring on Friday.

This is said to be the first time the South Korean government has sued the North for damages.

The ministry said it will sternly respond to the North's infringement upon the property rights of South Koreans.

But South Korea's Yonhap News Agency says there are no means for the government to force the North to pay the compensation, even if the South wins the lawsuit.