U.S. court orders $240,000 in North Korean frozen funds to Warmbier’s family
A U.S. court has ruled that the family of Otto Warmbier, an American college student who died while being detained in North Korea, must pay the frozen funds seized by New York State.
On the 13th (local time), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York decided on the 13th (local time) to add $240,000 (about 285 million won) of the North Korean Chosun Kwangsun Bank’s frozen funds held by the New York State Audit Office and interest accrued to Warmbier’s parents within 10 days. ordered to pay
The court gave North Korea and Chosun Kwangsun Bank an opportunity to raise objections in the ruling, but there was no response.
In 2009, Chosun Kwangsun Bank received an asset freeze from the U.S. Department of the Treasury for financial transactions with Chosun Innovation Trading Company and Dancheon Commercial Bank, which were subject to sanctions related to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) transactions such as missiles.
Warmbier, an American college student, was detained in January 2016 for trying to steal political propaganda while traveling to North Korea.
Warmbier’s parents sued North Korea for damages in April 2018, and a US court ordered North Korea to pay $51.13 million (about 596.4 billion won) in December of the same year. As a result, Warmbier’s parents are seeking compensation for North Korean assets hidden around the world.
According to the ‘2020 Terrorist Assets Annual Report’ released by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Ministry of Finance in September last year, the amount of North Korean assets frozen by the US government amounted to $31.69 million (about 37.7 billion won).
Reporter Kwak Hye-jin
