“Revenge of noise between floors? Try it somewhere”… I'm going to get caught one after another for stalking.

Supreme Court confirms stalking punishment for retaliation
According to precedent, related complaints will likely be reduced.
Punishment of those who cause noise between floors is a blind spot

With the Supreme Court's recent decision for the first time that retaliatory actions against inter-floor noise can be punished as 'stalking', it is expected that there will be a series of criminal complaints related to inter-floor noise.

On the 14th, the Supreme Court sentenced a man in his 30s to eight months in prison and two years of probation for harassing his neighbors by intentionally causing noise in the house above him during a dispute over noise between floors. This is the first ruling by the Supreme Court that recognizes retaliation for noise between floors as a stalking crime.

According to the Supreme Court precedent, there are concerns that the number of cases in which retaliation for noise between floors will be filed as stalking will increase compared to now. This is because with the enforcement of the Stalking Punishment Act in October 2021, inter-floor noise retaliation meets the conditions for stalking.

Jo Seong-geun, attorney at Daeryun Law FirmHe explained, “When establishing the stalking punishment law, it would not have been made with inter-floor noise in mind,” and “The purpose of the legislation at the time would have been to deter sending messages, voices, etc. to unwanted parties, but it ended up fitting into inter-floor noise retaliation.”

The problem is that although the path to punishment for inter-floor noise retaliation has been opened, there is no proper means of holding accountable those who caused inter-floor noise. Attorney Cho explained, “Generally, it is difficult to file a criminal complaint for causing noise between floors,” and “You can only report a violation of the Stalking Punishment Act if the intention to intentionally cause noise to reach the house below is proven.”

Inter-floor noise disputes are increasing day by day. According to the office of Democratic Party lawmaker Hong Ki-won, complaints about noise between floors in apartment complexes increased by about 70% from 32,785 in 2019 to 55,504 in 2022.

As inter-floor noise disputes become more frequent, measures to strengthen the responsibility of those causing inter-floor noise are being demanded. Cha Sang-gon, director of the Housing Culture and Housing Improvement Research Institute, pointed out, “There is nothing that can be done from the perspective of victims of inter-floor noise,” adding, “We do not support retaliation, but the problem is that there is no appropriate means to punish the cause.”

[View full article]- “Revenge of noise between floors? Try it somewhere”… I'm going to get caught one after another for stalking.