Compensation Payments for Residents Affected by Military Noise to Begin Next Year

Various fighter jets, including the F-35A, are on display at 'Seoul ADEX 2021' held on the 19th at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. / Seongnam = Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Residents near 49 locations including military airfields and shooting ranges will receive compensation for noise damage.

On the 16th, the Ministry of National Defense announced that it designated and publicly notified 90 military facilities as noise control areas and decided to provide noise damage compensation to residents near these noise control areas starting next year.

The compensation areas include 41 military airfields and 49 military shooting ranges such as the 5th Corps shooting range, divided into zones 1, 2, and 3 according to the area, with compensation ranging from 30,000 to 60,000 KRW per person per month. Eligible applicants must apply by February 28 of next year, and the review results will be notified by the mayor, county governor, or district head after deliberation by the 'Regional Noise Control Committee.' Subsequently, compensation for one year for this year will be paid by the end of August next year. The total number of eligible recipients is approximately 471,000 people.

Information materials regarding the compensation target areas, calculation standards, and payment procedures will be posted on the respective city, county, and district internet websites by the end of January next year.

The Military Noise Damage Compensation Act was passed by the National Assembly at the end of 2019, and the enforcement decree and enforcement rules were completed last year. Before the enactment of this law, residents near military airfields and shooting ranges had to receive compensation through individual lawsuits, but now they can receive compensation regularly every year simply by applying without filing a lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense also plans to conduct investigations on 13 military airfields and shooting ranges that were subject to noise surveys but were not investigated for various reasons in the future.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.