A U.S. air force shooting range located in a small town in Hwasung, Gyeonggi Province will be closed down in 54 years.

The Defense Ministry said South Korea and the United States agreed to switch the management of the Maehyangri shooting range to South Korea and close it down completely during a meeting held in November last year.

Under the agreement, the Defense Ministry will take over the jurisdiction over the 7.3 million pyong (24 million square meters) area from the U.S. air force in South Korea and completely close it down by August next year.

The U.S. Air Force has been exclusively using the firing range since 1951. The ministry said it is seeking ways to opening a South Korean air force shooting range to the U.S. air force.

The Maehyangri shooting range off the west coast some 80 kilometers southwest of Seoul has long been the target of resentment by nearby residents who complained of constant noise from bombing exercises.

In a landmark ruling in April, the Seoul District Civil Court ordered the government to pay one hundred-thousand dollars to the 14 plaintiffs for mental damage caused by the shooting range.