Started with "Sorry for the harm first" but turned threatening
An indoor smoker in an apartment left a threatening post saying "I am a geondal" to a neighbor complaining about the damage, sparking public outrage online.
Conflicts continue as current laws do not regulate indoor smoking.
On the 27th, a post titled "There is a geondal in our apartment" was uploaded on an online community along with two photos. The attached photos show a resident’s complaint about inter-floor smoking damage and a reply from the indoor smoker that borders on a threat.
The victim resident’s appeal read, "The sash is flimsy, so even when the door is closed, the smell comes up and it’s very difficult. Please refrain from indoor smoking."
On the 27th, according to an online community, a post titled "There is a Gangster in Our Apartment" was uploaded along with two photos. The attached photos include a resident's complaint about secondhand smoke damage between floors and a response from an indoor smoker that borders on a threat. [Photo by Online Community]
The adjacent reply starts with "First, sorry for the inconvenience." However, the person who wrote the reply showed a brazen attitude, saying, "Don’t blindly tell me to stop smoking; tell me the time periods when I shouldn’t smoke."
They continued, "The problem is the sash? Don’t speak English. If there is no reply within three days, I won’t consider it further. I am a geondal," declaring they would continue indoor smoking while adding profanity and "Third parties be careful and only those concerned should respond."
The author who posted the photos said, "I just tore that off," and "I hate living in the same building."
Netizens who saw the post responded with comments like "That looks like a threat to me," "Smoking is a freedom, but you shouldn’t harm others," and sarcastically said, "Are they saying they are a Gundam?" and "They seem angry because sash is English."
Unlike inter-floor noise, there are no legal punishment standards for inter-floor smoking
On the 27th, according to an online community, a post titled "There is a Gangster in Our Apartment" was uploaded along with two photos. [Photo by Pixabay]
Unlike inter-floor noise issues, which have legal standards for measuring damage such as decibels (dB), there are no clear standards for the scale of damage or punishment regarding inter-floor smoking.
According to the Apartment Housing Management Act, "Residents and users of apartment housing must make efforts to avoid causing damage to other residents through smoking inside units such as balconies and bathrooms," but there is no legal enforcement like fines, so smokers can effectively ignore these efforts.
The entity managing inter-floor smoking is not a judicial institution but the management office. The Apartment Housing Management Act states that "If a victim of secondhand smoke reports the damage to the management office, the office can request the resident causing the secondhand smoke to stop smoking." However, this is only a recommendation for cooperation from the smoker.
Under the National Health Promotion Act, apartment no-smoking zones can be designated in hallways, stairs, elevators, and all or part of underground parking lots, but "residential spaces inside units" cannot be designated. Therefore, smoking inside homes or bathrooms cannot be prevented.
However, in "mandatory management apartments," if residents agree through consultation to set management regulations, penalties for violations can be imposed.
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