South Koreans are being driven mad by noisy neighbours

THE LOUD music that his neighbours keep playing is fairly easy to deal with, says Yoo Seung-joo, a 21-year-old who lives in a block of flats in Seoul. “I just call the security guard to tell them to keep it down and that usually works.” But there is a more delicate problem. “At least once a week I’m woken up at 5am by loud sex noises.” The recurring disruption to his sleep is extremely wearing, but he feels too embarrassed to raise it with the security guards, let alone his parents, with whom he shares the flat.

Mr Yoo is not the only South Korean suffering from noisy neighbours. In a country where around two-thirds of people live in sound-carrying high-rise apartment blocks, ”noise between floors” is such a well-established problem that there is a national centre dedicated to dealing with it. The centre registers complaints and offers mediation through a range of committees to prevent lawsuits and perhaps even patch up neighbourly relations.