Gieun-se’s Apology: How Home Renovations Sparked Controversy in Seoul

/Ki Eun-se Instagram

Actor Ki Eun-se issued a personal apology after neighbors complained that renovation work at her Pyeongchang-dong home in Seoul’s Seongbuk-gu had caused significant disruption.

In a post on her social media, Ki wrote, \”I’m sorry for causing inconvenience.\” She explained that this was the first house she bought with her own earnings, so she had many ideas and the renovation schedule ended up stretching out.

She added that winter caused long pauses in the work, so the project took longer than expected. Ki said she had asked other residents in the same building for their understanding but admitted she failed to consider nearby homes — an oversight she regretted.

She also noted that, because the building has no elevator, crane trucks had to be brought in, and she wasn’t on site constantly. That meant she only recently learned how much neighbors were being affected. \”I’ve spoken with the renovation team and asked them to minimize disruption as much as possible,\” she wrote.

Ki said about two more weeks of work remain and that large vehicles, including moving trucks, will need to come through two or three more times. She pledged to be mindful and keep disruption to a minimum, and added that she’ll visit in person to apologize before the move.

Previously, complaint posts about Ki’s Pyeongchang-dong renovation spread across online communities and social media. One poster who said they were a family member of a nearby resident wrote that construction vehicles had taken over the alley in front of their home, leaving barely enough room for a single car to pass. They said the area was full of construction debris and dust, and that the neighborhood hadn’t been properly cleaned.

The poster also claimed contractors first promised a mid-April completion, then shifted the timeline to mid-May, and now won’t commit to a finish date. They accused the team of trying to brush the issue aside because Ki is a celebrity and asked whether she couldn’t at least show basic common sense and courtesy toward her neighbors before building a fancy house.