Photo credit: Lukas Kindl
by Arline L. Bronzaft, Ph.D., Board of Directors, GrowNYC, Co-founder, The Quiet Coalition, and Honorary Chair, Quiet American Skies
In the past, the South Korean village of Dangsan was considered a quiet, rural area. But not today. Just over a month ago, the New York Times ran a story that covered Dangsan, titled: “Blaring Dreadful Noise Across Border, North Korea Adds Insomnia to Its Arsenal.” Noise is identified in this article as a weapon of war, as North Korea set up loudspeakers along the border with South Korea. These speakers inundate the nearby residents with “eerie” noises. People in the village are calling themselves “victims of bombing.” Villagers are unable to sleep, and they say the noise drives them crazy.
These disturbing sounds are indicative of a deteriorating relationship between North Korea and South Korea, author Choe Sang-Hun writes. Sang-Hun describes how North Korea has strengthened its relationship with Russia and how South Korea has expanded its military drills with the United States and Japan. We also learn that South Korea used loud speakers to blast K-pop and news into North Korea in the past. So, we might consider the blasts of noises inundating South Koreans as a response to the blasts of sound that their country sent earlier.
The villagers are now trying to keep their windows shut to lessen incoming noises. Their government has offered to install double-pane windows and provide medication to lessen the impact of the noise on their livestock. But the villagers are not satisfied with these solutions. They want the noise to cease, but this would require an agreement that would stop the neighboring countries from “slandering each other.”
The Times article includes other headlines to describe the awful impact of noise, including: “North Korea Bombards the South With Noise” and “Noise Bombings Keep Many Dangsan Villagers Awake.” I would like to add that many people with whom I have spoken about noise problems have used the word “bombing” to describe the noises impacting them. This word is certainly more appropriate to describe the blasts that residents exposed to aircraft noise experience. And it far better describes the experience than “annoyance,” a word often used in the United States by the Federal Aviation Administration in describing noise caused by aviation.
