Yongin City Begins Gathering Residents' Opinions to Confirm Aircraft Noise Areas

[Asia Economy (Yongin) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province will listen to residents' opinions before finalizing the aircraft noise control areas.

On the 19th, Yongin City announced that by the 10th of next month, together with the Ministry of National Defense, it will collect opinions from residents in the target areas who are experiencing inconvenience due to noise from aircraft such as fighter jets and helicopters, prior to finalizing the noise control areas.

The target areas within Yongin City include parts of Jeondae-ri, Yuwun-ri, and Samgye-ri in Pogok-eup, located within the operational radius of Yongin Airfield (Cheoin-gu, Pogok-eup Jeondae-ri area), and parts of Jinmok-ri in Namsa-eup, located within the operational radius of Osan Airfield (Seotan-myeon area, Pyeongtaek City).

If designated as a noise control area, compensation will be provided as follows: 60,000 KRW per month (per person) for noise levels above 95 WECPNL, 45,000 KRW per month for 90 to 95 WECPNL, and 30,000 KRW per month for 85 to 90 WECPNL.

WECPNL is an aircraft noise index reflecting the number of aircraft operations, time of day, and maximum noise levels.

Residents can check whether their address falls within the noise control area by accessing the Military Airfield Noise Area Inquiry System and entering their address.

Any objections or questions regarding eligibility can be posted on the Q&A board of the respective website.

Compensation is provided according to the "Act on Prevention of Noise and Compensation for Damage from Military Airfields and Military Shooting Ranges." Since March, the Ministry of National Defense has been conducting noise impact surveys around military airfields and is currently collecting opinions from the 15th of this month until the 10th of next month.

After the opinion collection process, the Ministry of National Defense will finalize the noise control target areas in December.

A city official urged, "Residents in the relevant areas must confirm whether they are in the military noise control areas," and added, "If there are any objections to the noise impact survey results (draft), please submit your opinions on the website."