If You Say a Word to the Upstairs Neighbor, You Get 50,000 Won... The Story of the 'Hyeongnim' Desperately Sought by the Downstairs Neighbor

Interfloor Noise Conflicts Intensify... Increasing Number of People Seeking 'Daeta'
Seoul City Presents Guidelines for Resolving Interfloor Noise Issues

A man suffering from noise complaints between floors has posted a notice seeking a 'substitute' to visit the upstairs neighbor and protest on his behalf, drawing attention.

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On the 24th, a photo of the notice posted on the secondhand trading app 'Danggeun Market' quickly spread on the social networking service X (formerly Twitter). Mr. A, who wrote the notice titled "Looking for a brother to say a word about floor noise," said, "I'm going crazy because of the floor noise," and added, "I'm looking for a big, tall, and intimidating brother. Please go upstairs and say just one word." The hourly wage offered in the notice was 50,000 won, about five times the minimum hourly wage of 9,860 won as of 2023.

In 2021, a post titled "Big and scary-looking man nearby, please help" also caught attention. Mr. B, who wrote the post, said, "The upstairs neighbors are really noisy, living like thugs, and since I'm a woman, I can't go up and confront them. I've talked to them a few times when we met, but they don't listen at all." He added, "They often throw trash in the parking lot and discard cigarette butts. Sometimes they make loud noises until 3 or 4 a.m. I think if a man goes to talk to them, they would be scared." The hourly wage offered in that notice was 10,000 won.

Netizens who saw these posts responded, "I know because I've experienced floor noise. If you can't sleep for a few days, you go crazy," "They must have been so distressed to post such a notice," "Even if you scare them like that, some people still stomp," and "You don't understand floor noise unless you've experienced it. I would have offered more than 50,000 won."

Conflicts over floor noise intensify... Seoul City issues guidelines

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Conflicts surrounding floor noise are growing day by day. On March 8 last year, a physical altercation occurred between neighbors over floor noise on the rooftop of an apartment complex in Dong-gu, Incheon.

Meanwhile, whether floor noise is considered a problem is determined by measuring the average noise level over one minute. The noise standards set last year consider noise exceeding 39dB during the day and 34dB at night as noise pollution. Recently, courts have even recognized dog barking as noise damage and ruled for compensation.

As conflicts intensified, Seoul City presented guidelines for resolving floor noise issues. Seoul advises that when floor noise occurs, the first step is to request mediation from the apartment management office's 'Apartment Floor Noise Management Committee.' If this does not yield results, the second step is to visit the 'Seoul Floor Noise Counseling Center' and the 'Floor Noise Neighbor Center' operated by the Korea Environment Corporation. If the floor noise remains unresolved after these steps, one can apply for mediation at the 'Seoul Environmental Dispute Mediation Committee' and receive compensation including measurement fees.