Residents purr-plexed after Korean apartment complex bans cats following fire

A studio apartment complex in Incheon came under fire after building management asked residents with pet cats to move out, citing fire safety concerns.

A notice put up on a studio apartment building in Cheongna International City, Incheon, asks residents to refrain from raising a cat inside the building, or to move out. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A studio apartment complex in Incheon has some tenants and online commenters hissing after building management asked residents with pet cats to move out, citing fire safety concerns.

The management office of a studio apartment building in Cheongna International City, Incheon, issued a notice saying that residents had voted at a general meeting last month to ban the keeping of certain animals, including cats, ferrets, rabbits and raccoons, according to a social media post uploaded on Tuesday.

"Residents currently raising cats would be required to install protective covers on their induction cooktops," read the notification, according to the post. “Households that must keep cats are respectfully asked to move elsewhere.”

The management office said the decision was made in response to a fire caused by a cat in September last year, and that cooperation from residents was necessary to prevent further incidents.

One resident who uploaded the notice criticized the decision, saying, “The notice irresponsibly links the cause of the fire and its solution to telling cat-owning households to move out. The apartment complex has long been operated in unreasonable ways.”

Most commenters online expressed similar disapproval, saying it was unreasonable to ask residents to move. Some said requiring the installation of induction safety covers could be acceptable as a precaution, but that advising relocation was excessive. Others said it was unfair to hold all cat-owning households responsible for a fire caused by one individual case.

A smaller number of commenters supported the management’s position, saying that the request was understandable given the fire risk. “If a cat actually caused a fire, imagine how anxious the other residents must be,” one person wrote. “If my own home were at risk of burning down, I would want strong measures, too.”

"The decision was made by a vote at the residents’ meeting, and the notice was simply conveying the outcome," said a representative of the management. “It’s not a forced measure, but a request for cooperation."

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY HYEON YE-SEUL [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]