South Korean apartment dwellers are grappling with a growing crisis as inter-floor noise disputes in densely populated apartment buildings have led to a sharp rise in violent crimes, severe psychological distress and ineffective dispute resolution.

According to a report from the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ), severe crimes triggered by noise disputes between floors, such as murders and assaults, have seen a tenfold increase from 11 cases in 2016 to 110 in 2021.

A fatal incident occurred in Jan. 2023 in the southern city of Sacheon, where a middle-aged man stabbedhis neighbor during a heated argument over loud