Court Orders Woman to Pay Damages for Ignoring Pregnant Neighbor's Pleas Over Indoor Smoking

A woman in her 50s who continued to smoke inside her apartment and on her balcony, ignoring the pleas of a pregnant neighbor next door, has been ordered to pay damages.

According to the Korea Legal Aid Corporation, Judge Kim Young-hee of Civil Division 3 at the Jeonju District Court ordered the defendant, a resident in her 50s, to pay 1.5 million won in compensation in a damages lawsuit filed by A, the pregnant neighbor's husband.

A moved into a corridor-style apartment in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, in May of last year with his wife, who was expecting a child.

However, the neighbor living next door continuously smoked inside her home and on her balcony, causing cigarette smoke to drift into A's apartment.

Although A repeatedly asked her to stop smoking through the apartment's management office, the neighbor ignored the requests and continued to smoke.

Stating that they had to seek medical treatment due to secondhand smoke and stress, A and his wife eventually turned to the corporation for help.

Representing the couple, the corporation filed a damages lawsuit against the neighboring resident.

The corporation objectively proved the damage caused by secondhand smoke, citing the Apartment Housing Management Act, which stipulates that residents must not cause harm to others by smoking indoors or on balconies, and must cooperate with the management office's requests to refrain from smoking.

In particular, emphasizing that secondhand smoke poses a greater health risk to a fetus and causes higher psychological distress for pregnant women compared to the general public, higher damages were claimed for A's wife.

Accepting the corporation's argument, Judge Kim ruled that the defendant's actions constituted an illegal act that violated the plaintiffs' right to health and peaceful residential life.

Consequently, the court ordered the defendant to pay 500,000 won to A and 1 million won to A's wife, who was pregnant at the time.

Hwang Ho-sung, head of the Jeonju branch of the corporation, said regarding the ruling, "This ruling confirms that the issue of secondhand smoke is not merely a daily inconvenience or an inter-neighbor dispute, but an illegal act that can incur civil liability for damages. We expect this to serve as a standard for resolving similar disputes in the future."

Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Kim Na-on | Graphics by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.