A North Korean writer has filed a lawsuit against a South Korean publisher for copyright infringement of his novel “Hwangjini.”

In the lawsuit, novelist Hong Seok-jung claimed the publisher had posted his novel in the literary journal, “Reunification Literature”, in 2002 without consent, and had even printed and distributed copies of the original novel last year.

Hong is seeking 150-thousand won in damages for copyright infringement.

In response, the publisher claimed to have broken no law as it had published the book through a Chinese agent that handled copyright details for the North Korean publisher of the novel. The South Korean publisher also said it had already given 20-thousand dollars as part of copyright payments to the North.

Hong was selected as the winner of the 19th Manhae Prize for Literature in 2002 for the novel, which is based on the life of a famous Joseon Era gisaeng, or female courtesan.