Representative Proposal of the "Multi-Family Housing Management Act Amendment"
Legal Grounds for Removal by Residents and Management Entities Specified
Junho Jung, Member of the National Assembly.
On May 1, Junho Jung, a member of the National Assembly from the Gwangju Buk-gu Gap district of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced that he had proposed a revision to the Multi-Family Housing Management Act. The revision explicitly stipulates that residents or management entities may remove unauthorized advertisements and flyers from multi-family housing complexes.
The purpose of the amendment is to address the current situation in which individuals can be punished for property damage for removing illegal flyers. Last year, there was widespread public outrage when a third-year high school student was referred to the prosecution for property damage after removing an unauthorized flyer that had been posted in an apartment elevator.
The current enforcement ordinance of the Multi-Family Housing Management Act requires that anyone, whether a resident or an outsider, must obtain prior consent from the management entity before posting advertisements. However, there is no explicit provision allowing residents or management entities to remove illegal advertisements at their own discretion. As a result, there has been ongoing debate over whether voluntary removal could be considered a violation of the Criminal Act (property damage). In fact, in 2021, the Daegu District Court fined a building manager for removing an illegal banner.
Court rulings have suggested that the appropriate remedy is to request voluntary removal or, if this is not complied with, to file a civil lawsuit to obtain a compulsory execution order. However, there has been continued criticism that it is unreasonable to require a civil lawsuit just to remove a flyer.
Jung stated, "It is a failure of the system that apartment residents have to go through a lawsuit just to remove a single unauthorized illegal flyer," and emphasized, "By clearly providing a legal basis in the Multi-Family Housing Act for management entities to remove illegal flyers, I will prevent innocent citizens from being made into criminals."
He added, "There are also concerns that if management entities are allowed to remove any postings or banners they do not want, such as those criticizing the residents' representative council, this could excessively restrict freedom of expression and cause further conflict."
Jung further explained, "I believe our society has a sufficient level of democracy to allow for reasonable discussion and coordination between parties on such matters. Through sufficient public debate and discussion during the implementation of the law, we will be able to find a reasonable compromise. More importantly, we must not make innocent people into criminals," clarifying the intent behind the proposed amendment.
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