New Delhi, Sept. 16 -- The ruling by the Seoul Central District Court was symbolic as South Korea has no clear way to force the North to pay amid a diplomatic breakdown.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in recent years has suspended all meaningful diplomacy with the South and declared it his most hostile enemy while advancing his nuclear weapons program and pursuing closer ties with Moscow and Beijing as part of what he has described as a "new Cold War."

While there have been cases of individuals suing the North Korean government over human rights abuses and other issues, the liaison office case was the first time the South Korean government sued Pyongyang.

South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles affairs related to North Korea...