Gyeonggi Province Secondhand Smoke Complaints in Apartments Exceed 30,000... Management Regulations to Be Revised

As complaints related to secondhand smoke within apartment complexes in Gyeonggi Province continue to rise, the province announced on September 17 that it will push for a revision of the Gyeonggi Province Apartment Housing Management Regulation Guidelines to reduce such damage.

The province plans to gather opinions from cities, counties, and housing-related organizations starting in October and formulate a revised guideline draft by the end of this year.

The revised draft is expected to include: establishment of a standard investigation form for management entities to systematically verify damage facts when secondhand smoke complaints occur; guidance discouraging indoor smoking targeting specific buildings and lines where secondhand smoke damage occurs; creation of informational notices for preventing secondhand smoke damage; and designation of non-smoking areas and creation of separate smoking spaces considering complex conditions.

Currently, apartment housing management laws and guidelines allow management entities to verify damage and recommend the cessation of smoking when secondhand smoke damage occurs.

However, in actual practice, there is a lack of specific standards regarding the procedures by which management entities should verify complaints and what follow-up measures should be taken if damage recurs.

The Gyeonggi Province Apartment Housing Management Regulation Guidelines are standard autonomous rules that present criteria for apartment housing management or use in order to protect residents and maintain order in residential life.

Secondhand smoke-related complaints received by management entities of apartment complexes in the province have continued to increase, recording 17,409 cases in 2022, 21,148 cases in 2023, 28,583 cases in 2024, and 30,641 cases last year.

Lim Gyu-won, head of the Apartment Housing Division at Gyeonggi Province, said, "Smoking inside households in apartment complexes can lead not only to secondhand smoke damage for neighbors but also to conflicts between residents," adding, "We will improve the system so that management entities can respond more systematically to complaints and residents can consider one another, thereby reducing secondhand smoke damage in apartment complexes."

(Photo provided by Gyeonggi Province, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.