Mark Bravin Wins $404.55 Million District Court Judgment Against North Korea
Last week, an MSK team headed by Washington, D.C. Partner Mark Bravin won a $404.55 million district court judgment against North Korea for 119 victims of the USS Pueblo Incident. Does v. Democratic People's Republic of Korea, 2026 WL 1493562 (D.D.C. 2026).
In 1968, the Pueblo was attacked while on a peaceful electronic surveillance mission for the US Navy in international waters. North Korea held the crew hostage in abysmal conditions and tortured them for nearly a year until the US Government negotiated their release. They returned home severely malnourished, with physical injuries and psychological trauma that caused them lingering pain and suffering and strained family relationships. In 2021, Mark headed another MSK team that won $1.15 billion in damages for 171 victims of the Pueblo Incident. The earlier case is Does v. DPRK, 414 F. Supp. 3d 109 (D.D.C. 2019); 2021 WL 723257 (D.D.C. Feb. 24, 2021) (“Pueblo I”), which yielded a judgment for $1.1 billion against North Korea on behalf of crew members of the USS Pueblo and their immediate family members.
These terrorism judgments are paid over time from a Fund created by Congress in 2015 and administered by the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. The Fund is authorized to distribute payments to victims once a year until 2039, unless extended by Congress. After six rounds of payments, the Fund has paid over $10 billion to about 22,000 eligible claimants; more than half were 9/11 victims who share half of Fund distributions.
