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Jeju neighborhood blames elderly woman for deluge of pigeon droppings on parked cars

Published: 23 Sep. 2025, 20:53

Pictures of cars covered in bird droppings in Nohyeong-dong, Jeju [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A woman has attracted large flocks of pigeons to her residential neighborhood in Jeju by regularly feeding the birds, leaving residents frustrated over cars covered in droppings.

On Tuesday, an online post titled “Pigeon feeding in Jeju’s Nohyeong-dong by an elderly woman has caused years of severe damage from droppings on cars” was widely shared.

The user wrote that car owners in the area have suffered due to the feeding and uploaded photos of the damage. In the photos, a road beneath power lines and parked cars are covered in bird droppings. One white vehicle was splattered across its hood, windshield and side mirrors.

“Just two days after washing my car, it looked like this,” the poster wrote, adding, “It has been like this for two to three years. Even if we ask her to stop feeding the pigeons, she only does so temporarily.”

According to the post, pigeons gather on the power lines in front of the woman’s home and soil the cars parked below. “Local residents avoid parking there, but anyone who parks by chance ends up with their car completely ruined,” the poster said.

The Environment Ministry designated pigeons as harmful wildlife in 2009 due to concerns about hygiene and disease transmission as their numbers increased. In July, the Seoul Metropolitan Government designated 38 locations, including Gwanghwamun Square and Hangang Park, as “feeding ban zones” for harmful wildlife. Anyone caught feeding pigeons in these zones can be fined up to 1 million won ($720).

Jeju has a local ordinance on compensation and support for damage caused by wildlife, but it does not include specific provisions banning the feeding of pigeons.

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 JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]