North Korea Hit with $378M Judgment for 1972 Lod Airport Massacre

I haven’t seen this reported in the news yet, but standing alongside the Pueblo judgment, this creates a basis for American victims of North Korean atrocities to try to collect several hundred million dollars from North Korean accounts and entities in third countries, using international agreements that allow for the reciprocal enforcement of foreign judgments.

North Korea was held liable for its role in supporting the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Japanese Red Army, which planned the attack together in North Korea. North Korea did not contest the suit. The award consisted of $78 million in compensatory damages awarded to the estates and surviving relatives of the victims, and $300 million in punitive damages.

You can read the decision here: calderon-order.pdf

I’ve assembled more information at this page about other civil litigation against North Korea in U.S. courts.

President Bush removed North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism on October 11, 2008, to reward it for its anticipated progress toward complete, verifiable, and irreversible nuclear disarmament. President Obama reaffirmed Bush’s decision on February 3, 2010. Despite substantial evidence of North Korea’s recent sponsorship of terrorism and his own assurances that he would consider re-adding North Korea to the list, President Obama still has not re-added North Korea to the list.