'My kids couldn't sleep — they missed school': Noise at Wooseong Apartment election standoff hits 80 decibels

Wooseong Apartment in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul — the site of an unprecedented ballot shortage during the recent election — is still reeling from the fallout. Some 200 protesters gathered overnight to block the removal of a ballot box, pushing noise levels to alarming heights, and residents say they can no longer sleep.

Around 3 p.m. Thursday, a noise meter held in front of the senior center at the complex — which served as Polling Station No. 2 in Jamsil 7-dong — spiked to 80 decibels, roughly equivalent to the noise of a busy road. As protesters blasted loudspeakers and sang the national anthem, readings refused to drop below 70 dB.

Demonstrators have been chanting slogans such as "fraudulent election" and "null and void," taking turns at the microphone in an unrelenting stream of amplified speech. Each time a speaker finishes, a burst of applause sends the noise level surging again.

The senior center where protesters have gathered is ringed by four residential buildings within 50 meters, with five more beyond that. The louder the crowd gets, the more residents suffer — and there is little buffer between the two.

Under the enforcement decree of the Assembly and Demonstration Act, loudspeaker noise in residential areas, near schools and near general hospitals must not exceed an average of 60 dB or a peak of 80 dB during the day. At night, stricter limits apply: average levels must stay below 50 dB and peaks below 70 dB.

Residents say the noise — far above legal limits — has become unbearable. Bae, 60, said she did not fall asleep until around 4 a.m. Wednesday because of the racket. "When I went outside in the morning, I found my car had been scratched," she added.

Park Jun-hyeong, 28, said noise was the biggest problem. "My parents had a terrible time because of it on Wednesday," he said. "My unit is not even directly facing the protest site, so I'm at least somewhat shielded — and it's still loud."

A resident in her 20s, identified only by her surname Park, said she could not sleep because people were shouting through the night. "If this drags on for a few more days, the sleep deprivation is what worries me most," she said.

She added that the free movement of outsiders through the complex was also a concern. "There were elderly people drinking soju in front of the convenience store — that's never happened there before," she said.

Yoon, 71, said the noise never let up. "I couldn't sleep at all. It was so constant I couldn't even tell you when it was loudest," she said. "People were shouting into loudspeakers and honking car horns — it was incredibly loud."

At least one family kept their children home from school after a sleepless night. Choi, a resident in her 60s, said she heard that neighbors had not sent their children to school because they could not sleep. "This is private property and a residential area — I can't believe this is being allowed to happen," she said.

Inside the senior center where the protesters have gathered, a ballot box containing roughly 2,000 votes remains in storage. Demonstrators are blocking its removal and demanding a re-election, keeping the standoff at an extreme impasse.