Kim serves as the first vice department director of the Workers’ Party’s Central Committee, a prominent position within the ruling regime reflecting her rapid rise to become one of her brother’s most senior and internationally recognized aides.
In June, Kim threatened to destroy the inter-Korean liaison office in the North Korean border city of Kaesong in retaliation for propaganda balloons floated into the North by defector groups in the South. On June 16, the North’s military followed through on the threat and blew up the building.
The Yonhap news agency reported that Seoul lawyer Lee Kyung-jae filed a complaint against Kim and General Pak Jong Chon—the head of the North Korean armed forces—on July 8, with the case assigned to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office’s public investigation division on Monday.
The probe is purely symbolic and the South has no way of enforcing any punishment on the North Korean figures. Seoul prosecutors will now review Lee’s complaint before deciding whether to bring charges against Kim and Pak, Yonhap reported.
The news agency also said prosecutors may decide to drop the case given it is impossible to enforce any conviction.
Lee acknowledged the improbability of any practical implications, but said he wished to focus public attention on the North’s behavior. “It is difficult to arrest Kim and Pak and bring them to justice, but an investigation can be conducted,” he said.
“We should let 25 million North Koreans know about their ruling family’s false image and hypocrisy, as well as about the legal order of our free democracy,” Lee added, noting that intentional destruction of state property can carry a 10-year jail term even under North Korean law.
The destruction of the liaison office was symptomatic of deteriorating relations on the Korean peninsula, despite the surprise detente between Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington, D.C. in recent years.
Talks on denuclearization and sanctions relief have come to nought, with Northern officials reverting to belligerent rhetoric. Kim Jong Un has also overseen regular weapon tests, though has so far maintained his moratorium on intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear warhead tests. Still, research is believed to be continuing on both.
Observers have speculated that the dictator may end the testing freeze or order other significant weapon tests in the run up to the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Meanwhile, Northern officials—including Kim Yo Jong—have repeatedly rejected rumors that Washington and Pyongyang are trying to organize another leaders summit before November.
