"No Apartment at That Age? Bark Like a Dog"…Outrage Over Shocking Resident Power Abuse

"I am a resident," "Don't you even have an apartment?"
Security guards suffering from resident power abuse

A resident of an apartment in Seoul has been prosecuted for making security guards do menial tasks for years and repeatedly verbally abusing them. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. Photo by Yonhap News.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] A man in his 20s, resident A, who forced apartment security guards to do menial tasks for years and habitually verbally abused them, has been brought to trial. It has been revealed that A uttered insulting remarks to the security guards such as "What have you done at your age?" and "Do you have an apartment? Bark like a dog," sparking public outrage. Despite the continuous occurrence of such power abuse against security guards, the poor employment conditions have not improved.

According to reports on the 15th, the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office has indicted resident A of a mixed-use apartment complex in Singongdeok-dong, Mapo-gu, this month without detention on charges of obstruction of business, assault, and retaliatory threats.

A has been accused of running his own cafe in the apartment shopping area since 2019 while making security guards do menial tasks and verbally abusing them.

The menial tasks A made the security guards perform included patrolling the smoking area every 10 minutes, delivering packages, and repairing the cafe's air conditioner. When his demands were not met, A threatened the security guards with remarks like "I will have you quit" and verbally abused them.

In December last year, A insulted a security guard in his 50s with remarks such as "What have you done at your age? Do you have an apartment?", "Bark like a dog," and "I am a resident, you XXX." After the security guards reported A to the police, he even spat at them. It is known that about 10 security guards have quit their jobs due to A's power abuse.

Reference photo. According to a survey, one in four security guards reported having experienced 'unfair treatment such as verbal abuse and physical assault' from residents. Photo by Yonhap News

As these facts became known, citizens expressed outrage. Park, a man in his 30s, said, "The level of verbal abuse was so high it gave me chills," and added, "Last year, a security guard took his own life due to power abuse by a resident, yet the labor environment still seems unchanged. Punishments for perpetrators are weak, and the employment conditions for security guards do not improve, so the power abuse never ends," raising his voice.

The vulnerable employment conditions of security guards are not a new issue. Most security guards are employed under unstable contracts such as fixed-term contracts, causing them to live with the anxiety of being fired at any time. It is pointed out that even when they experience verbal abuse and power harassment from residents, the structure makes it difficult to properly report these incidents.

According to the "National Survey on Apartment Security Workers" released by the Korea Non-Regular Labor Center in 2019, one in four security guards (24.4%) answered that they had experienced unfair treatment such as verbal abuse and physical assault from residents, and one in three (30.4%) reported suffering from employment insecurity due to short-term contracts of less than one year.

Experts point out that the vulnerable employment structure of security guards makes it difficult to resolve the power abuse issue. Attorney Kwon Dooseop appeared on a radio show and said, "Since most security workers are employed indirectly, it is difficult to raise issues, and generally they just endure it," emphasizing, "This employment insecurity problem must be resolved, and if there are areas where the government or local governments can intervene, they should step up to address the problems."