"Buying 10 Bedbugs... Post Appears for Retaliation Against Interfloor Noise"

"Please send it in a bedbug zipper bag"

As fear of bedbugs spreads nationwide, posts have appeared expressing intentions to purchase bedbugs as retaliation against neighbors causing noise between floors.

On the 11th, an online community, Bobae Dream, featured a post titled "Used Market Bedbug Villain," where someone expressed a desire to buy bedbugs listed on the Used Market.

Photo by Yonhap News

The prospective buyer said, "I want to buy bedbugs. Having suffered from noise between floors, I felt like I found an oasis after seeing the bedbug news. I want to punish my next-door neighbor," and offered 3,000 won for 10 bedbugs, requesting them to be collected and sent in a zipper plastic bag via courier.

Netizens responded with comments such as, "There is a high chance they will come to the buyer's own home and parasitize," and "I fully understand from the perspective of someone who has suffered from noise between floors."

Cases of private retaliation against neighbors for noise between floors frequently become topics on the internet. In May, a case was reported where a person dissatisfied with noise between floors searched for 'noise between floors revenge music' on YouTube and played noise toward the neighbor's house 10 times using a woofer speaker.

The court regarded this as stalking behavior and fined the couple 7 million won each.

As incidents related to noise between floors have increased recently, the government is preparing countermeasures. The Ministry of Environment has begun reviewing whether it is necessary to regulate products and advertisements that encourage 'retaliation' against upstairs neighbors causing noise between floors.

In July, to strengthen communication and joint cooperation among related organizations, 10 institutions from industry, academia, research, and government jointly formed the "Noise Between Floors Policy Council."