People walk their dog at a playground for pets at Uiwang Station Prugio La Foret apartment complex in Gyeonggi Province in this undated file photo. Courtesy of Daewoo E&C

It is not unusual to encounter more people walking their dogs than parents pushing baby strollers at most apartment complexes in Korea, the country which has over 12 million pet owners and the world's lowest birth rate of 0.72.

Although the trend has prompted major construction firms here to install amenities for dogs and cats at the apartment complexes they build, the growing number of pet-friendly facilities has also led to various types of conflicts between neighbors.

An illustration of Hyundai E&C's pet-friendly facility, H with Pet / Courtesy of Hyundai E&C

Future residents of Olympic Park Foreon, an apartment complex under construction in southeastern Seoul by Hyundai E&C and three other companies, were embroiled in a dispute recently with the construction firms that proposed the installation of shower booths for pets.

Hyundai E&C installed similar facilities in The H Firstier I'Park built late last year in Seoul's Gangnam District, as well as several other apartment complexes under the brand name Hillstate.

Although the construction firms emphasized the luxurious image that the pet-friendly facility can bring, Olympic Park Foreon's future residents expressed concerns over hygiene and inflow of pet owners who do not live in the apartment complex.

"How will you clean hair and remove odors?" one of the incoming residents wrote on their online forum. "The installation of shower booths will make more outsiders walk their dogs at our apartment complex."

Since Daewoo E&C built a playground for dogs at the Uiwang Station Prugio La Foret apartment complex in Gyeonggi Province, which was built in 2019, Hanwha E&C, Kolon Global and many other construction firms have vied to attract pet owners by providing facilities friendly to animals.

Last year, Daewoo E&C advertised Sihwa MTV Prugio the Ocean, which will be built by 2026 in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, as an apartment complex that will provide comprehensive services for pet owners, including a hotel and a hospital for animals.

Hanwha E&C also installed playgrounds for dogs at apartment complexes under the brand name Forena. In 2022, Kolon Global came up with Hanulchae Pet Gym, which includes a playground for dogs, as well as toilets and water fountains for animals.

"There will be an increasing popularity of apartment complexes equipped with pet-friendly facilities," a construction industry official said.

However, residents of new apartment complexes that are friendly to pet owners have become more hostile these days toward outsiders who walk their dogs at their apartment complexes.

Last month, residents of Gaepo Xi Presidence in Gangnam District started selling dog tags to their neighbors having pets, in order to prohibit outsiders from walking their dogs at the apartment complex.

Helio City in Songpa District and Raemian Caelitus in Yongsan District also ban the entry of dogs whose owners do not live in the apartment complexes.