Ganghwa County to Provide Individual Compensation for Military Noise Damage

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Shin Eun-seop] Ganghwa County is accepting compensation claims from residents in the noise countermeasure area under the 'Military Noise Damage Compensation Act'.

The county announced on the 16th that it has consistently worked to ensure fair compensation commensurate with residents' damages and sacrifices from 'military noise,' and will be paying compensation for the first time this year.

Applicants are 346 households that registered their household residence in the noise countermeasure area around Jingansan Multi-Service Training Facility according to a Ministry of Defense announcement and actually resided there from November 27, 2020, through December 31, 2021.

Compensation applications can be filed by visiting the Ganghwa County Environmental Sanitation Division or the relevant myeon office by the 28th, or by sending a registered letter. Registered letters must be postmarked by the deadline to be valid.

Compensation amounts vary by noise level: 60,000 won per month for Category 1, 45,000 won for Category 2, and 30,000 won for Category 3 per person, and may be reduced depending on the number of firing days, date of residence registration, and duty location.

The county plans to notify results individually by May after deliberation by a local review committee, and complete compensation payments within 60 days of notification.

Those who fail to apply by the deadline can submit a retroactive application for that year's compensation in February of next year.

A county official stated, "In accordance with the first implementation of the military noise damage compensation system, we will do our best to ensure that all eligible parties receive compensation," and added, "We will continuously make suggestions regarding areas that need improvement to ensure appropriate compensation for eligible parties."