South Korea has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against North Korea for “illegally” destroying the Inter-Korean Liaison Office near the border, the unification ministry announced Wednesday, telling NK News that it is the first time Seoul has directly sued Pyongyang.

The government filed the lawsuit Wednesday at the Seoul Central District Court days before the statute of limitations was set to expire. North Korea blew up the building in mid-2020 in protest over anti-regime leafleting at the border.

According to the unification ministry, the Yoon administration seeks some $35 million (44.7 billion won) in damages over the destruction of the