Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Disputes arise among neighbors over indoor barbecue grilling
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By Lee Hae-rin
By Lee Hae-rin
When someone grills meat at home, many neighbors smelling it might get a craving for barbecue also. Some others could be irritated by the aroma.
For a few people, it is irritating enough to call the police.
In recent days disputes among neighbors over indoor barbecue grilling in apartments have been arising.
A woman in her 20s wrote on an online community, Nov. 8, that her neighbor called the police over the smell of her barbecuing, claiming it is “illegal.”
When she was grilling “samgyeopsal” (pork belly) at around 1 p.m., a neighbor rang the doorbell and said people don't grill meat in such small apartments with only one or two rooms, because of the smell.
“I asked her why it is a problem to grill meat in my home, and she said that any studio apartment resident with common sense would never barbecue indoors. She said that she is on a long-term lease contract, but that I seem like I am paying only monthly rent, so I should not grill meat while living in somebody else's home,” the woman wrote.
The writer found the neighbor's complaint unacceptable and invited three friends over to barbecue again for dinner on the same day. The neighbor came again, claiming that she should move out of the apartment for causing the smell and that it is against the law to barbecue indoors in apartment-style housing.
As the quarrel grew, the angry neighbor called the police. “She told the officers that it is a tacit rule among studio apartment residents not to barbecue indoors. But the officers said that it is one's individual freedom to do so and left the scene,” she said.
According to another post from a different online community, Friday, the maintenance office of the writer's apartment complex gave a warning announcement about indoor barbecue grilling.
The announcement said: “Please refrain from grilling meat, as the smell from grilling samgyeopsal is causing complaints from other residents in the building,” according to the writer.
“This is absurd. How come we are not allowed to cook meat in our own homes? Both the person who made the complaint and the maintenance office that made the announcement are pitiful,” the person said.
Most internet users have found conflicts over barbecue grilling absurd. “It is just bullying (by neighbors). Living on a monthly pay has nothing to do with grilling meat,” one user wrote.
“An apartment building is shared by many people. If you don't like what the other residents eat, you should move to a freestanding house,” another wrote.