North Korean defector, Choi Min-kyung, is making history by filing both civil and criminal charges against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and four other Pyongyang officials, accusing them of severe abuse she endured after being forcibly repatriated from China in 2008.
This will mark the first time a defector born in North Korea has personally pursued legal action against the regime.
Choi initially fled North Korea in 1997 but was captured and returned in 2008. She says she was tortured and sexually abused during her detention.
Though she managed to escape again in 2012 and resettled in South Korea, she still suffers psychological trauma and requires ongoing medication.
Her case, supported by the South Korea-based Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), is set to be filed in a Seoul court.
The group also plans to take the case to the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, aiming to hold North Korea accountable for crimes against humanity.
Choi stated that she hopes this legal action becomes a turning point in the fight for freedom and human dignity for North Koreans living under oppressive rule.
NKDB emphasized the significance of the case, noting that it pursues both criminal and civil charges, a rare legal approach in such matters.
South Korean courts have previously ruled against North Korea in symbolic judgments, including compensations for South Korean prisoners of war and Japanese-Korean defectors who were deceived into relocating to North Korea during Cold War-era repatriation efforts.
While North Korea has not responded to any of these verdicts, advocates argue the rulings carry deep emotional weight for victims by officially recognizing their suffering.