"Are They Hoping He'll Get Sick?"... Gifts Given to Security Guard Turn Out to Be Spoiled Food

"They Make a Show of Giving Spoiled Meat and Other Discarded Items"
Abuse of Apartment Security Guards Remains a Persistent Issue

There is growing public outrage online over claims that an elderly man working as an apartment security guard has been subjected to abusive behavior by residents. It is alleged that residents gave him spoiled food and expired daily necessities as so-called "gifts."

Recently, a post titled "My father received toothpaste" was uploaded to an online community. The author, identified as Mr. A, wrote, "After retiring, my father started working as a security guard at an apartment complex because he didn't want to depend on his children for support. My sibling and I encouraged him to quit because the apartment seemed notorious for mistreating workers, but my father insisted that the residents took good care of him and sometimes brought him snacks."

However, when Mr. A checked the "gifts" from the residents himself, he found that most of them were spoiled food. "They gave him things like bellflower pear juice, but it had been left untouched for so long that it had solidified," he said. "Why would they want to make a show of giving something they were going to throw away? Are they hoping he'll get sick from eating old food?" he lamented.

Security guard. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

He continued, "There were white clumps floating in the bulgogi, and it was clearly spoiled. I was angry that they brought him things they were planning to discard. Even the toothpaste he received as a gift was a product that had been voluntarily recalled by the company due to the presence of banned substances."

Netizens who read Mr. A's story responded with outrage, saying, "My father is also a security guard, and there was a resident who made a show of giving him expired snacks," "I can't believe this," and "Did this really happen?"

The mistreatment of security guards is not a new issue. In August of last year, a controversy erupted at an apartment complex in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, when a complaint was filed demanding the removal of a fan from the security office due to high electricity bills. At the time, the security guard at the apartment wrote a letter of appeal, asking, "Please provide the minimum conditions so that security guards can work in the hot weather."

Although the "Security Guard Abuse Prevention Act" (an amendment to the Multi-Family Housing Management Act), which limits the scope of security guards' duties and prohibits residents from making verbal abuse or unreasonable demands, has been in effect since October 2021, there are ongoing concerns that the problem persists.

According to data on industrial accidents involving apartment commercial building and security guards obtained in 2024 by Kim Wisang, a lawmaker from the People Power Party and member of the National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee, from the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of security guards who suffered industrial accidents due to violence remained steady at around 30 per year from 2019 to 2023, specifically 39, 24, 30, 38, and 29 cases, respectively. During the same period, the number of industrial accident cases caused by work-related illnesses such as mental disorders and death from overwork due to verbal abuse or mistreatment was 407, 371, 430, 403, and 369, respectively.