US Court fines North Korea $501 million
A judge in the United States has ordered North Korea to pay a total sum of $501 million due to the killing of an American named American Otto Warmbier. In his ruling, the judge stated that the University student was tortured by the state.
Parents of the said student sued North Korea in US courts. The student was flown to America while in a comma. His family could not recognise him and he subsequently died.
The family of the student was awarded $501 million by the chief judge of the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
The case was filed under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act but North Korea has not responded to the suit. This law makes it possible for plaintiffs based in the United States of America to sue foreign governments on cases which are not covered by Diplomatic immunity.
There are limited chances that North Korea will pay that fine. Korea is ranked as one of the most isolated countries around the world due to the dictatorial tendencies of its leader. South Korea is one of the world’s most isolated countries of the world.
North Korea assets in the USA may be seized to pay the fine. This fine has come at the wrong time when US president is negotiating a deal with North Korea on nuclear weapons.
The late Otto Warmbier who was a student at the University of Virginia had traveled to North Korea on a tour but never returned home.
He was kidnapped by the regime on landing at Pyongyang Airport. He was subsequently charged with various crimes against the state of North Korea. He was accused of taking down a poster of country’s leader Kim Jong-Un.
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