Editor's note: this story was translated from the original VOA Korean article.
Since the international express carrier DHL announced the suspension of services to North Korea in August, the country's mission to the United Nations in New York has become a key route for serving U.S. court documents tied to lawsuits against Pyongyang.
The U.S. State Department has repeatedly used diplomatic channels to deliver complaints, summonses and court judgments to the North Korean mission, effectively making it a conduit for legal communications between American courts and the North Korean government.
State Department confirms transfers
The State Department recently confirmed that it received court documents in cases involving North Korea and transmitted them to North Korea’s mission to the United Nations in New York under procedures established by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA).
In an email to VOA early this month, a State Department spokesperson speaking on background confirmed that the department received the Alkhalili litigation documents and provided records to the court "reflecting transmission to the DPRK" under its statutory responsibilities for serving foreign states.
In September, the federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia ordered North Korea and Iran to pay approximately $487 million in damages in the Alkhalili lawsuit, brought by 47 Americans, including victims and family members affected by seven attacks in Iraq, Syria, Kenya, and Israel. Following the ruling, the plaintiffs asked the State Department to effect service of the judgment on North Korea, a request the Department fulfilled.
Court records reviewed by VOA also show that the State Department has filed formal certifications confirming that judicial documents were delivered to the North Korean U.N. mission under cover of diplomatic notes in other major anti-terrorism lawsuits.
According to filings in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, summonses and complaints were served on the North Korean mission on June 24 in two separate cases: Estate of Yona Betzalel Brief, et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran, et al., filed by victims and families of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, and the estate of Lillian Ladae Clamens, et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran, et al., brought by the surviving family of a U.S. soldier killed in a 2007 rocket attack on Camp Victory in Baghdad.
In both cases, John Ballard, managing director of the State Department’s Directorate of Overseas Citizens Services, certified on September 30 that the diplomatic notes were dated June 17, 2026, and delivered to the Permanent Mission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the United Nations in New York on June 24, 2026. Jared N. Hess, an attorney adviser in the State Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser, formally transmitted the certifications to the clerk of the court on October 1, completing the record of service.
Earlier, in March, the State Department transmitted an amended court judgment and a notice of default judgment to the North Korean mission in a lawsuit brought by the family of Reverend Kim Dong-shik, a South Korean missionary who was abducted by North Korean agents in China in 2000. The court had awarded his family $366 million in damages.
Diplomatic notes used to deliver court documents
With routine diplomatic contacts between Washington and Pyongyang largely dormant, the diplomatic note—traditionally the highest and most formal vehicle for government-to-government communication—is increasingly utilized to transmit judicial paperwork.
Diplomatic notes typically convey official positions or address issues between governments. In these cases, however, the State Department has used them to fulfill its responsibilities under U.S. law to serve legal documents on foreign governments.
The formal mechanism persists not as part of diplomatic negotiations, but to satisfy the stringent requirements of U.S. judicial procedure.
Pyongyang deliveries halted
In previous years, plaintiffs suing North Korea relied on DHL, which operated a liaison office in Pyongyang, to deliver court documents directly to the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
However, DHL ended its non-diplomatic delivery service to North Korea around 2020, which was publicly exposed when former detainee Kenneth Bae sued the North Korean government and attempted to use DHL to serve the summons to North Korea's foreign ministry.
More recently, in court filings related to a $1.5 billion cryptocurrency cyber-theft lawsuit filed by Bybit, it was disclosed that DHL has suspended cargo services to North Korea indefinitely. With other major commercial couriers and the U.S. Postal Service offering no registered delivery options to North Korea, direct deliveries to Pyongyang have become virtually impossible.
As a result, attention has turned to the U.N. mission in New York, where receipts of service have occurred.