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| Comedian Lee Hwi-jae and his wife Moon Jung-won / Courtesy of KBS |
By Lee Hyo-jin
Entertainers have come under fire for causing noise disturbances after their neighbors publically raised complaints on social media.
An internet user claiming to be the downstairs neighbor of comedian Lee Hwi-jae left a comment, Monday, on his wife Moon Jung-won's Instagram account, complaining about Moon's carelessness regarding the noise issue.
The couple are well-known by the public as the parents of twin sons after the family appeared in the variety TV show "The Return of Superman."
"If you are going to leave your kids running around at home all day, you should at least install soundproof mats. I've asked more than five times and it's becoming unbearable," read the comment.
Moon replied with an apology, saying that although she is doing her best to keep the children quiet, her two sons sometimes get out of control.
But her apology stirred controversy among internet users who criticized her lack of effort to solve the matter, sharing a previous photo where Lee was playing catch with the twins at home while wearing sneakers.
Moon offered a lengthy apology on Wednesday, saying that she had a deep conversation with her neighbor and promised to come up with practical solutions.
Another comedian, Ahn Sang-tae, also stirred controversy after a similar post by an internet user claiming to be his downstairs neighbor gained public attention, Tuesday.
"When I moved here in March last year, I was excited that a famous comedian was living upstairs. But soon I began to suffer from excessive stress due to noise from his floor," wrote the internet user, adding that Ahn's Instagram posts showing his child wearing roller skates and jumping on a trampoline at home fueled her anger.
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| Comedian Ahn Sang-tae / Korea Times file |
As more people spend more time at home due to the prolonged pandemic, noise complaints in apartments have become a serious issue here.
According to data from the Korea Environment Corporation (KEC), a total of 36,105 noise-related complaints in apartments were reported from January to November in 2020, a 51 percent increase compared to the same period in 2019.
