By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

A court Sunday ordered an airbase in Suwon to give out 48 billion won ($38 million) in compensation to 30,690 people living in its vicinity due to noise from aircraft operating there.

It is the largest amount of money ever to be paid in compensation by the military for noise, the court said.

The verdict is likely to influence similar suits filed by around 80,000 other affected citizens, lawyers said.

Judge Lim Chae-woong of the Seoul Central District Court said the ``noise level to which people living around the airbase have been exposed was painful.''

``The plaintiffs have shown mental and physical damage due to the noise,'' Lim said. ``Although military drills are necessary to deter inter-Korean clashes, the level of noise higher than 80 WECPNL is unendurable.'' WECPNL is an aircraft noise exposure index.

According to a guideline set up last year by the Ministry of Environment, people exposed to the aircraft noise over 80 WECPNL are subject to state compensation.

The court demanded the military facility to pay 30,000 won monthly to people living in areas with noise in the range of 80-90 WECPNL; 45,000 won to people with 90-95 WECPNL noise; and 60,000 won to those with 95-100 WECPNL.

Noting that there are many similar suits related to noise from the Suwon airbase, the judge said, ``Suwon is a densely populated city, meaning the authorities should set up systematic and long-term countermeasures to cope with growing complaints.''

pss@koreatimes.co.kr