1st stalking conviction issued for repeatedly pestering neighbor with noise

▲ The Supreme Court of Korea (Yonhap)

noise complaint-stalking charge

1st stalking conviction issued for repeatedly pestering neighbor with noise

SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Yonhap) -- The Supreme Court convicted a person of stalking Thursday for repeatedly pestering a neighbor with noise in an interfloor noise dispute, marking the first stalking conviction in such cases.

The convicted individual was charged with deliberately making noise in his rented apartment in Gimhae, 303 kilometers southeast of Seoul, during the early morning on a total of 31 occasions in October and November 2021

He banged on his apartment's ceiling with an instrument, blared loud songs directed toward the ceiling or yelled, producing noise that could be heard by the family living one floor upstairs.

The family upstairs kept a daily log of the noise and reported it to the police, who later found spots sunken from the beatings on his apartment ceiling.

Later investigations showed that the person had committed the acts out of malice stemming from what he called noise from the family living upstairs.

The Supreme Court on Thursday finalized an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, for the person, on stalking charges, upholding the rulings by two lower courts.

"The accused's behavior was repetitive and persistent enough to foster anxiety or fear and constitute a stalking crime," the top court said.

A Supreme Court official added that Thursday's ruling marks the first court decision recognizing deliberate and repeated noise-making targeting a neighbor as stalking.

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