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Dogs lose right to walk on apartment grounds in South Chungcheong

Published: 18 Jun. 2025, 17:41

A dog on a leash and wearing goggles walks with its owner in Busan [NEWS1]

Dogs living in one apartment complex in Yesan County, South Chungcheong, can no longer take their daily walks around the grounds after residents voted to ban dog walking in shared outdoor areas — a divisive move that passed by just two votes and has reignited debate over pet ownership in Korea’s dense residential communities.

The decision came after a resident vote earlier this month on whether to prohibit dog walking in the apartment complex’s ground-level park. According to notices posted inside the apartment’s elevators, the vote was organized by the residents’ representative council and conducted electronically over two days, from June 10 to 11.

The measure passed by just two votes — 203 in favor of the ban and 201 against — effectively putting an end to residents walking their dogs in shared outdoor areas.

The vote followed escalating complaints over uncollected dog waste, which some residents said was tarnishing the complex’s appearance. Supporters of the ban said enforcement was necessary due to repeated violations, while opponents argued the rule was excessive and that better oversight would have sufficed.

A noticeboard inside an elevator of an apartment complex in Yesan County, South Chungcheong, asks its residents to vote for or against allowing owners to walk their dogs in the apartment complex grounds. [KBS]

The pet dispute had sparked visible tensions between pet owners and non-owners alike at the apartment complex comprising close to 460 households.

This is not the first time a Korean apartment complex has enacted such a rule. In 2023, a residential building in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, adopted a similar dog-walking ban after complaints about pet waste and biting incidents, updating its management bylaws to formally prohibit the practice.

BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]