Pohang City Hall. [Pohang city government]
Pohang City Hall. [Pohang city government]

Pohang city in North Gyeongsang Province will pay a total of 1.18 billion won ($852,000) in military noise compensation to 3,876 residents living near Pohang Air Base (K-3) and military firing ranges, the city announced Wednesday. Payments will be completed by Sunday.

Those eligible include residents in noise-designated zones near Pohang Air Base — covering Ocheon-eup, Donghae-myeon, Cheongnim-dong and parts of Jecheol-dong — as well as those near military firing ranges in Janggi-myeon and parts of Heunghae-eup.

To qualify, residents must have been registered and actually living in the designated areas between Jan. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2025.

Applications submitted earlier this year were reviewed and finalized by Pohang's Regional Noise Countermeasures Deliberation Committee.

Compensation is divided into three tiers based on noise impact level: Class 1 (60,000 won per month), Class 2 (45,000 won per month) and Class 3 (30,000 won per month).

For residents near the air base, payments are calculated in proportion to the number of days they lived in the area. For those near firing ranges, amounts are based on the actual number of days firing exercises took place each month.

However, individual payouts may vary depending on legal deduction criteria such as the date of move-in or the location of the recipient's workplace.

Residents who missed this application period may still apply retroactively within the five-year statute of limitations, and can do so during next year's application window in January and February.

Park Seon-yeong, head of Pohang's Environmental Policy Division, said the city would actively relay residents' on-the-ground concerns to relevant agencies so that actual damage suffered by citizens is accurately reflected in the Ministry of National Defense's upcoming noise-impact survey for the redesignation of noise-control zones, with the aim of expanding compensation.


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