"The Dog I Took to a Friend's Housewarming Scratched the New Sofa" ... Do I Have to Pay 500,000 Won? [What Do You Think?]

[Financial News] The story of a dog that scratched a new sofa after being taken to a friend's housewarming party, prompting a demand for 500,000 won in repair costs, sparked controversy online. After facing fierce criticism from other users, the dog owner eventually acknowledged her fault, apologized and agreed to reimburse the cost.
On the 26th, a post titled "They're Asking Me for 500,000 Won Because the Sofa Was Scratched" was published on the office-worker community 'Remember.'
According to the writer, identified as A, she recently attended the housewarming party of a friend who had secured a home after winning a housing subscription. Because A normally did not leave her dog alone and had conflicting family plans, she asked for her friend's permission in advance and brought her Maltese. The dog was reportedly excited by the unfamiliar surroundings, running around the house and jumping on and off the sofa.
The conflict arose after the party ended. The friend, who owned the home, found scratches in several places on the sofa, checked the cost of replacing the leather and asked A to pay 500,000 won as her share of the expenses.
The friend lamented, "It was an expensive sofa I carefully chose after buying my first home because I wanted to use it for a long time, so I'm upset that it was damaged not long after I bought it."
In response, A complained online, saying, "How much could a small dog like a Maltese possibly scratch?" She added, "I offered to buy leather restoration products or a protective pad, but I felt that charging 500,000 won was excessive."
However, online users reacted coldly to the story. Many criticized A's lax approach to managing her dog, saying, "It was careless to bring a dog to someone else's new home in the first place," "From the victim's perspective, a new piece of furniture was damaged, so trying to patch it up with a restoration product is inappropriate," and "Even if a pet is like family to you, to others it is simply the party responsible for causing property damage."
After the criticism continued, A changed her stance in an additional post. A said, "Reading the comments, I realized the difference between being frugal and being reasonable. If something I treasured were damaged, I wouldn't want to hastily fix it myself and keep using it." She added, "I was shocked by the large amount at first, but it made me reflect on my actions. I will formally apologize to my friend and transfer the amount requested."
[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter