'I was scared and felt wronged': Singaporean tourist left in tears after Korean uncle slams rubbish bin lid on her hand

A Singaporean woman was taught a painful lesson on garbage disposal in South Korea, after a man allegedly slammed a bin lid down on her hand for disposing her rubbish in the wrong bin. 

The woman, Shovess Neo, 21, shared a clip on Instagram on Jan 17 following the rude encounter with an elderly man at a market in Seoul. 

"An uncle deliberately slammed the lid of the bin that I was disposing my trash in just to tell me that I'm not allowed to do that at one of the markets in South Korea, " Neo wrote in the video.

Visibly shaken and in tears, Neo showed the bruise on her hand from the aftermath.

"I kid you not, it was so painful. It was red for a good 15 minutes," Neo shared in her post. 

Not only was she reprimanded by the man, but Neo added that he fished out the item that she had thrown into the bin and threw it on the ground. 

"I was scared, at a loss, and felt wronged. I didn't understand why he did this," Neo told Shin Min Daily News.

According to the Chinese evening daily, Neo shared that she disposed of the item at a bin in the market as "it was the only one there".

She also claimed that it did not have any category labels on it indicating that throwing of rubbish was not allowed.

Neo told Shin Min that despite the extreme reaction from the uncle, she did not confront him so as to avoid conflict and chose to leave the scene.

Neo's eight-second clip has since garnered some 14.5 million views and 317,000 likes at the time of writing.

Many online sympathised with Neo on her unpleasant encounter in Seoul. One Instagram user commented: "Whatever the reason, he could have just said it or gestured it nicely."

Some also shared similar encounters of getting heckled by locals in South Korea.

However, others called Neo out for not familiarising herself with the strict trash disposal rules in South Korea. 

According to commenters and sources online, South Korean residents are required to purchase government-issued garbage bags and sort their rubbish into different categories before they are collected.

Neo responded in the comments by saying that even though she isn't fully aware of the stringent measures in place with regards to rubbish disposal in South Korea, it does not excuse the man's behaviour towards her.

"If he told me nicely, I'll definitely take my trash out, apologise and perhaps converse with him to gain insights about the trash system culture in your country," Neo added.

An Instagram user who claimed to be a local, however, clarified that the garbage sorting system only applies to residential areas and not at a market.

In response to the request to disclose the name of the market, Neo said: "Truly just sharing my experience to raise awareness in case anyone goes to Seoul for the first time like me, no intention to disclose the name of the market simply because I believe his actions alone shouldn't be attributed to the entire community."

Despite the negative experience, Neo mentioned in the comments that she would not allow it to affect her view of the country. 

She added that she is open to visit South Korea again, once she has mastered the Korean language.

AsiaOne has reached out to Neo for comment. 

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