Ignoring Pregnant Neighbor's Pleas Over Cigarette Smoke Leads to Court Ruling

A woman in her 50s who tormented a pregnant neighbor by smoking indoors and on her balcony has been ordered by a court to pay damages.

According to the Korea Legal Aid Corporation on Wednesday, Judge Kim Young-hee of the Jeonju District Court's Civil Division 3 ruled in a damages lawsuit filed by a resident identified as A against his next-door neighbor B, ordering the defendant to pay 1.5 million won in compensation to the plaintiffs.

In May of last year, A was living in a corridor-style apartment with his wife, who was expecting a baby.

B, who lived next door, smoked inside her home and on the balcony, and the smoke drifted into A's apartment.

Although A repeatedly asked B to refrain from smoking through the management office, B ignored the requests and continued to smoke.

Consequently, A and his wife suffered from secondhand smoke and severe stress, requiring hospital treatment, which led them to seek help from the Corporation.

Representing A and his wife, the Corporation filed a damages lawsuit against B.

The Corporation objectively proved the damage caused by secondhand smoke by citing violations of obligations under the Apartment Housing Management Act regarding the prevention of secondhand smoke and cooperation with management's recommendations.

Emphasizing that secondhand smoke poses greater health risks to an unborn child and causes higher psychological distress for pregnant women than for the general public, the Corporation claimed a higher compensation amount for A's wife.

Accepting the Corporation's arguments, Judge Kim ruled that "the defendant's actions constitute an unlawful act that infringed upon the plaintiffs' right to health and peaceful residential life," ordering B to pay 500,000 won to A and 1 million won to A's pregnant wife.

Hwang Ho-sung, head of the Jeonju branch of the Corporation, stated, "This ruling confirms that the issue of secondhand smoke is not merely a daily inconvenience or an inter-neighbor dispute, but an unlawful act that incurs civil liability for damages," adding, "We expect this to serve as a benchmark for resolving similar disputes in the future."

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