{
  "id": 4138845,
  "title": "South Korean court rules banging on ceiling, calling to complain considered stalking",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/29/south-korean-court-rules-banging-on-ceiling-calling-to-complain",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-29T07:39:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3365694/south-korean-court-rules-banging-ceiling-calling-complain-considered-stalking"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A South Korean woman, aged 55, has been fined for actions the court deemed to be stalking. The Chuncheon District Court fined the unnamed woman 2 million won (US$1,400) and ordered her to complete 40 hours of treatment for stalking offenders. The incident occurred between March 17 and May 11 last year in Chuncheon, Gangwon province. The woman, identified as A, repeatedly banged on her ceiling with a backscratcher and contacted her upstairs neighbor, B, through the building's intercom system to complain about noise. A had been asking B to keep the noise down since January, but the problem continued. When B asked A to report the noise through the management office instead of contacting her directly, A continued to make complaints through the intercom. A denied her actions were stalking, arguing they were reasonable attempts to resolve the issue. However, the court disagreed, stating that her actions were frequent and caused anxiety or fear in B, making them sufficient to constitute stalking.",
  "summary": "A woman in her fifties has been fined for repeatedly banging on her ceiling with a backscratcher and contacting her upstairs neighbour over noise, with a South Korean court ruling that her actions amounted to stalking. The Chuncheon District Court fined the 55-year-old woman, identified only as A, 2 million won (US$1,400) for violating the Act on Punishment of Crimes of Stalking, according to…",
  "key_points": [
    "55-year-old woman fined 2 million won for stalking behavior",
    "Repeatedly banged ceiling with backscratcher and used intercom to complain",
    "Court deemed her actions frequent and causing anxiety to neighbor"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}