What is this smell? 'Housing vs Restaurant' Dispute... Deadly Apartment Meat Odor

Conflicts Between Households Over 'Living Odor' Issues in Apartment Complexes
Serious Complaints About Meat Smell from 'Housing vs Restaurants'
Meat Odor from Restaurants Not Subject to 'Odor Prevention Law' Regulations
Conflict Resolution Difficult... Sometimes Escalates to 'Weapon Rampages'
Local Governments Fully Support Installation of Odor Prevention Facilities

In 2019, residents of an apartment in Seoul hung a protest banner over the smell coming from a nearby barbecue restaurant. / Photo by Internet community 'BobaeDream' capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Is grilling meat in an apartment considered a nuisance? The so-called 'inter-floor smell' controversy, sparked by grilling samgyeopsal in a multi-family housing complex, is shaking online communities. In fact, conflicts over 'meat smells' in multi-family housing where several households live together are not new. These disputes sometimes escalate beyond household-to-household friction to conflicts between residential complexes and external restaurants.

◆Conflicts Between Households Over 'Meat Smell' in Multi-Family Housing

The controversy began on the 12th when a post titled "There was an announcement just now asking to refrain from grilling samgyeopsal" was uploaded to an online community. The author, Mr. A, who lives in a multi-family housing complex, said, "While preparing dinner and doing the dishes, an announcement came on saying, 'Neighbors are suffering from the smell of samgyeopsal being grilled in Building O, Line O, so please refrain from doing so.' I was really speechless," expressing frustration.

He continued, "Are we not allowed to grill samgyeopsal in apartments? The person who complained is ridiculous, and the management office that couldn't handle it internally and made an announcement is a comedy," and sarcastically criticized, "I don't grill fish either, but sometimes the smell comes through the ventilation. If I complain then, will there be an announcement asking to refrain from grilling mackerel?"

Opinions among citizens who saw this post were sharply divided. Some supported Mr. A, saying, "Do we have to be interfered with even when grilling meat in our own home?" On the other hand, other netizens criticized, "Even though it is a private space, it is ultimately communal living, so shouldn't we observe etiquette?"

◆Neighborhood 'Smell Issues'... Disputes Between Residences and Restaurants

Conflicts over 'meat smells' in multi-family housing are not recent. Moreover, smell issues often extend beyond neighbor disputes to conflicts between residences and external businesses. This is because smoke and food odors from restaurant ventilation ducts spread into nearby residential areas.

The ventilation ducts of the direct-fire grill restaurant were installed lower than those of residential houses, causing the smoke and odors to drift with the wind and spread to the windows. / Photo by JTBC

In fact, in 2019, an apartment complex in Seoul had conflicts with a nearby direct-fire grill restaurant over smell and smoke issues. The smoke from the restaurant spread into the residential area, and residents reportedly could not even open their windows properly.

There have been cases where such conflicts escalated into violent incidents. In June 2018, a man in his 40s living near a direct-fire grill restaurant in Incheon repeatedly protested against the business and was eventually arrested by the police on charges of assault after wielding a weapon.

As conflicts between restaurants and residences deepen, complaints about living odors have also become significant. According to Seoul City, a total of 1,139 living odor complaints were received last year. Among these, complaints related to restaurants accounted for 31% (353 cases).

◆Not 'Living Odor' but Restaurant Smells... Local Governments Strive to Resolve Conflicts

The current Odor Prevention Act restricts odors caused by business activities near residential areas. However, general businesses such as direct-fire grill restaurants, printing shops, and laundries are not subject to regulations under the Odor Prevention Act, making civil resolution difficult even when conflicts arise.

As a result, local governments are focusing efforts on conflict mitigation by directly supporting small business owners to install odor prevention and reduction facilities. Since 2016, Seoul City has supported 51 restaurants with approximately 600 million KRW, covering 90% of the installation costs for odor prevention facilities.

In addition to installation costs, the Seoul Green Environment Support Center dispatches experts (air quality engineers) to the site to provide technical support from the design stage through installation and maintenance.

Regarding this, Yoon Jae-sam, Director of Seoul City's Environmental Policy Division, emphasized at a briefing in August, "Living odors from restaurants near residential areas cause inconvenience to nearby residents. Realistically, it is difficult for small business owners to fully invest in odor prevention facilities, so we encourage many applications for the support program."