Earticle

In the context of climate crisis, ensuring the resilience of South Korea's critical infrastructure is crucial for societal safety. This involves addressing vulnerabilities and aging management systems across various sectors, including general infrastructure, sustainable energy, information technology, national power and transportation, digital finance, public health, water management, cultural heritage safety, and international cooperation networks. Effective crisis management strategies are needed to redesign and build resilient infrastructure, fostering a sustainable and secure society. Emergency preparedness, encompassing natural and non-natural events, is essential for mitigating disaster impacts on people, environment, and business continuity. Additionally, ongoing research focuses on enhancing crisis management paradigm and adapting national infrastructure systems to climate challenges, particularly in radiological emergency preparedness of nuclear power plants in South Korea.

This study aims to examine how weak institutions, corruption, and political patronage undermine the effectiveness of disaster management systems in African states. While natural hazards such as floods, droughts, and landslides trigger disasters, their severity and human impact are often determined by governance failures rather than the hazards themselves. Drawing on qualitative, document-based case studies, the research analyzes three illustrative examples: the 2017 Regent landslide in Sierra Leone, which exposed institutional overlap and corruption; the 2012 nationwide floods in Nigeria, which revealed the politicized distribution of relief; and recurring droughts in Kenya, which demonstrated systemic diversion of aid. Findings show that governance weaknesses, ranging from poor institutional coordination to resource mismanagement and partisan relief allocation, erode public trust, reinforce social inequalities, and perpetuate cycles of vulnerability. The study interprets these dynamics through the Pressure and Release (PAR) model, linking root causes of vulnerability to disaster outcomes, and the Good Governance framework, which emphasizes accountability, transparency, and responsiveness. By highlighting the lived realities of marginalized communities, the paper underscores that effective disaster response requires not only technical capacity but also comprehensive governance reforms. This study emphasizes the urgency of strengthening institutions, embedding anti-corruption mechanisms, depoliticizing disaster response, and fostering inclusive, community-centered governance structures.

In recent years, climate change has led to a global increase in natural disasters, resulting in significant loss of life and economic damage each year. Notably, more than 80% of flood-related disasters occur in river and small stream basins; however, there is a severe shortage of personnel and equipment to properly manage these areas. In response, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety of Korea has been promoting the establishment of a "Smart Measurement and Management System" since 2023 to prevent disasters in small streams caused by climate change. Based on this initiative, technologies capable of forecasting and measuring on-site conditions using Artificial Intelligence (AI) are currently under development. This paper introduces the “Development of a Video-Based Flow Measurement System Using Deep Learning Models and an Automatic Velocity Vector Adjustment Algorithm” which is currently being carried out by our institution. The outcomes of this research are expected to support disaster response even in unpredictable situations, thereby reducing social and economic losses. Furthermore, if applied to the management of small-scale rivers and streams, the technology could significantly contribute to flood prevention and mitigation efforts by local governments.

This study analyzes major ICT infrastructure failures in South Korea to examine the relationship between digital resilience, public trust, and crisis communication amid escalating climate-induced disasters. As digital networks form the backbone of modern governance, single points of failure can trigger cascading disruptions across multiple sectors. Through case studies of the 2018 KT Ahyeon fire, the 2022 Kakao data center fire, and the 2023 nationwide administrative network crash, the study highlights how ICT breakdowns led to widespread service paralysis and severe trust crises. The findings show that these failures are not merely technical issues but governance challenges that undermine institutional legitimacy. Vulnerabilities such as overreliance on centralized networks and insufficient redundancy were exposed, while communication strategies varied in their effectiveness depending on speed and transparency. Drawing on UNDRR’s ICT resilience frameworks, the study proposes integrated strategies, such as redundancy measures, cybersecurity integration, and trust-based communication, to strengthen infrastructure protection and rebuild public trust in the climate disaster era.

This study investigates the demand for foreign caregivers (long-term care workers) to ensure the health and daily safety of older adults. A survey was conducted targeting 73 institutions in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, including 6 acute-care hospitals, 23 long-term care hospitals, 20 nursing homes, and 24 social welfare facilities. Data were collected via questionnaires distributed through email and telephone interviews to gather opinions from staff members of these care institutions. For data analysis, SPSS Version 21.0 was used. Frequencies and percentages were calculated to examine general characteristics of the institutions and the perceived need for foreign caregivers, and statistical significance was tested. Among the surveyed institutions, 49% of respondents in Daegu reported that caregiver staffing was adequate, whereas 70% of respondents in Gyeongbuk indicated that staffing was inadequate, highlighting regional differences. When analyzed by staff position, 83% of department heads reported difficulties in securing adequate caregiver personnel. Regarding the intention to hire foreign caregivers, 83% of long-term care hospitals indicated staffing difficulties, suggesting a severe shortage of caregivers in these institutions. Overall, the findings show that Gyeongbuk faces substantial challenges in caregiver staffing, and most long-term care hospitals express a strong need for foreign caregivers, emphasizing the necessity of developing fundamental policy measures to address this issue.