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Elderly neighbors shake hands up and down houses, wisdom between floor noise

An apartment complex in Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi-do. Gwangmyeong-si was the lowest among 27 cities and counties (average 0.062%) in Gyeonggi-do with more than 10,000 apartment households in the percentage of applying for visit consultation to the Environment and Environment Corporation’s Neighborhood Center due to inter-floor noise (from the second half of 2017 to 2018, 0.042% per household). . Central photo

‘We will fight the couple outside the house. I will not hurt my neighbors any more. If I can’t keep it, I will move.’


It is part of a memorandum between the residents of Apartment A in Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi-do at the end of last year. The couple who wrote the memorandum frequently argued between Goseong and Goseong. The newlyweds who moved to the upper house were troubled by the sound of a couple’s fights from time to time.

My husband, who was just ahead of the company’s promotion test, couldn’t stand it and protested several times through the management office. However, the castle that I hear almost every night was still there. One day, he got angry and went out to protest, kicked his front door and suffered a fracture in his leg.

The 2020 floor noise conflict in numbers.  Graphic = Reporter Kim Young-ok yesok@joongang.co.kr

The 2020 floor noise conflict in numbers. Graphic = Reporter Kim Young-ok [email protected]

Resident representatives mediate conflict between floor noise


Eventually, the’Inter-floor Noise Management Committee’ of Apartment A was convened. Six management members, including the same representative, and the parties gathered together. When the chairman recommended “Greetings first,” the upper and lower husbands shook hands awkwardly. In front of resident representatives, the couple at the upper house complained of the pain they had suffered from the noise, and the couple at the lower house asked for understanding by revealing the cause of frequent quarrels.

Prevention manual of the floor noise management committee of an apartment complex in Gwangmyeong City.  Gwangmyeong City Hall

Prevention manual of the floor noise management committee of an apartment complex in Gwangmyeong City. Gwangmyeong City Hall

– After more than two hours of meeting, the couple in the lower house wrote a memorandum saying, “I understand the pain of the couple in the upper house,” and “I will not cause any damage.” The head of the management, who attended the committee, said, “Since then, residents upstairs have not complained of noise damage.”

Floor noise management committee at 80% of Gwangmyeong apartments


In 2013, the city of Gwangmyeong established the’Inter-floor Noise Conflict Resolution Support Center’ for the first time in the country. Taking into account the characteristics of a new metropolitan area with many apartment complexes, the effort was made to prevent and support the resolution of inter-floor noise conflicts.

Gwangmyeong-si Housing and Superintendent Kim Soo-jeong said, “At that time, the news that led to the inter-floor noise conflict continued to be an extreme event, and awareness was increasing.” We started with the purpose of proactively intervening and preventing.”

Thanks to continuous efforts, Gwangmyeong City has fewer inter-floor noise conflicts than other new cities in the metropolitan area. According to Gwangmyeong City, from the second half of 2017 to the end of 2018, the percentage of applying for visit consultation to the Environment Management Corporation’s Neighborhood Center (0.042% per household) due to inter-floor noise problems (0.062% per household on average) in Gyeonggi Province (average 0.062%, more than 10,000 households living in apartments) ) Was the lowest.

Floor noise prevention guidebook published by Gwangmyeong City.  Gwangmyeong City Hall

Floor noise prevention guidebook published by Gwangmyeong City. Gwangmyeong City Hall

– According to the city, the interfloor noise management committee operated by apartment complexes contributes to mediating and preventing inter-floor noise conflicts. The current MDU Act recommends the establishment of a committee composed of resident representatives, but it is not mandatory and it is difficult to find actual cases of installation in other areas.

However, in Gwangmyeong, the city directly induces the installation, and annually conducts training for members and managers. Currently, 79.1% (72) of the 91 apartment complexes in Gwangmyeong city are operating the committee. In fact, about 40% (53) of the inter-floor noise conflicts (136 cases) identified by the city last year were mediated by the inter-floor noise management committee.

Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi-do, has been providing education to apartment managers, security guards, and floor noise committees once a year since 2013.  In 2020, non-face-to-face training was conducted due to the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19).  Gwangmyeong City Hall

Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi-do, has been providing education to apartment managers, security guards, and floor noise committees once a year since 2013. In 2020, non-face-to-face training was provided due to the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19). Gwangmyeong City Hall

“Face-to-face usually relieves”

Connect to the JoongAng Ilbo digital special'inter-floor noise translator'!  Click the image below, or if the link doesn't work, paste the link (https://news.joins.com/Digitalspecial/343) into the address bar.

Connect to the JoongAng Ilbo digital special’inter-floor noise translator’! Click the image below, or if the link doesn’t work, paste the link (https://news.joins.com/Digitalspecial/343) into the address bar.


The members of the Interfloor Noise Management Committee are usually residents who have lived in apartments for a long time. Apartment A was also composed of 60s to 80s, except for the representative in his late 40s. The chairman, a resident in the 80s, said, “If an older person like me mediates, both the perpetrator and the victim will inevitably hear it.” “Of course, at first, they look like,’What are you talking about?’ He said, “I listen to the situation and finally release my feelings.”

Officials said it was the most difficult to bring together the emotionally injured parties. Still, after meeting, he said that most of the time, he could see a clue to the solution. “It’s because it’s difficult to meet your face,” said the head of the apartment management A, “It’s like a gentle sheep when I come to the committee and stand in front of an adult neighbor, no matter how angry I am.” The manager of the neighboring apartment B also said, “It is different from meeting only the parties or talking through the management room. When we meet and talk about problems that seem difficult to solve, we can understand each other.”

Of course, not all conflicts can be resolved. This is especially the case when the conflict is long and the emotions are intensifying. “Even if you do your best, there are cases where the conflict recurs or cannot be resolved,” said the head of apartment management C. .

On May 4, 2019, a man in his 40s, who lived on the 15th floor, injured a resident living downstairs with a weapon due to inter-floor noise problems in an apartment in Goundong, Sejong City.  Sejong Fire Department

On May 4, 2019, a man in his 40s, who lived on the 15th floor, injured a resident living downstairs with a weapon due to inter-floor noise problems in an apartment in Goundong, Sejong City. Sejong Fire Department

– Experts said that the efforts of residents’ autonomy and neighboring communities will play a role in resolving and alleviating the conflict surrounding floor noise. Attorney Seung-tae Lee (Gyeonggi-do Environmental Dispute Mediation Commissioner), who mainly deals with noise disputes, said, “It is good to strengthen the self-government authority in the apartment community or allow the decision made by the interfloor noise management committee to be enforced.”

Lee added, “It would be much more helpful to reflect on one’s actions and make them feel sorry for the fact that they were brought to the committee for causing inconvenience to neighbors rather than solving them with a lawsuit.” Cha Sang-gon, director of the Housing Culture Improvement Research Institute, said, “The government tried to resolve the inter-floor noise conflict by establishing a specialized organization (neighborhood center) in 2012, but complaints are on the rise. It is time to explore a new approach.”

Reporters Baek Hee-yeon and Cheon Kwon-pil [email protected]



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