An appeals court has upheld a ruling that ordered the South Korean government to compensate 14 people who suffered from noise from U.S. bombing exercises. In a landmark ruling in April, the Seoul District Civil Court held the Seoul government responsible for mental damage caused by noise from a U.S. bombing range near their village of Maehyang-ri on the west coast. The district court had ordered the government to pay one hundred-thousand dollars to the 14 plaintiffs, just shy of the one hundred-seven thousand dollars they had sought. The South Korean government appealed. Encouraged by the lower-court ruling, more than two thousand villagers filed a separate class action suit in August, seeking 15 thousand dollars each in compensation. That suit is pending. The South Korean government has two weeks to appeal again. If the ruling stands, the government will discuss how to split the compensation payment with the U.S. military. The onshore and offshore range, located about 80 kilometers southwest of Seoul, has been used exclusively by the U.S. Air Force since the end of the Korean War.