At a luxury apartment complex in Seoul's well-to-do Seocho District, residents complain of intolerable chemical stench. Completed only a year ago, the project sold out despite commanding 3 billion won (2.25 million dollars) for a 84 square-meter unit on the lower side of the price spectrum. And yet water is said to drip down the elevator shaft during heavy rain. Trees on the ground are mysteriously dying. Some owners speak of icicles forming inside apartments in winter months due to poor insulation.

This is Bangbae GranXi, built by GS Engineering and Construction, and it's not the only large residential compound in South Korea to court extensive media coverage for architectural shortcomings. Similar horror stories concerning newly built high-rise residences are being heard from all corners of the country.

"Every household battles stench.. What's happening at a 3 billion-won Gangnam apartment?" was the broadcaster MBC's headline on Aug 22. Seocho, south of the Han River, is often considered a part of the well-to-do Gangnam area immortalized in Psy's song Gangnam Style.