TThe cooperation on disaster prevention between the two Koreas has been mostly focused on cooperation at the recovery stage, such as emergency relief supplies and equipment support. This study aims to articulate future practical development plans by analyzing disaster cooperation between North and South Korea in accordance with the changing paradigm of international disaster cooperation. Considering the specificity of inter-Korean cooperation, the Framework for Inter-Korean Disaster Prevention Cooperation was established centering on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The framework consists of understanding and sharing disaster risks, building back better, strengthening community resilience, and supporting regional disaster action plans for continuous action. Inter-Korean disaster prevention cooperation requires sharing information about North Korean disasters. It is necessary to accurately identify and support social vulnerability to North Korean disasters. Above all, it is supporting the development of disaster action plans from a humanitarian perspective needs. A medium-to-long term resilience reinforcement plan that North Korea can resolve on its own is also needed. Since North Korea is also deeply interested in international disaster cooperation, it should be based on the direction of the Sendai Framework. Considering the uniqueness of inter-Korean cooperation, a path for North Korea to actively participate in international disaster cooperation should be established.

With the recent global urban issues such as climate change, urbanization, and energy problems, the smart city was proposed as one of the solutions in urban planning. This study introduces the smart city initiatives of South Korea by examining the recent history of smart city policies and their limitations. This case study reflects the experience of one of the countries which thrived to building smart cities as their national key industries to drive economic growth. It also analyzes the trends of the smart city using big data analysis techniques. Although there are obstacles such as economic recession, failing to differentiate from the U-city, low service level than expected smart functionality, We could recognize the current status of the smart city policies in South Korea such as 1) Korean smart city development projects are actively implemented, 2) public consensus suggests that applying advanced technology and the active role of government need, 3) a comprehensive and strategic approach with the integration and application of advanced technologies is required as well, 4) investment by both private and public sectors need to deliver social improvements. This study suggests future direction of smart city polity in South Korea in the conclusion.

This study is to explore the relationship between the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the environment using the big data methodology. We scrutinize the trend of the Fourth Industrial revolution, in association with the environment, and provide implications for a more desirable future environmental policy. The results show that the Industrial Revolution has been generally perceived as negative to environment before the 2010s, while it has been widely regarded as positive after the period. It is highly expected that the Fourth Industrial Revolution will be capable of functioning as a new alternative to enhance the quality of the biophysical and social environment. This study justifies that the new wave of technological development may serve as a cure for the enhancement of the environmental quality. The positive linkage between the new technological development and the environment from this study clearly indicates that the environmental industry and environmental technologies will be key economic factors in the next-generation society. They should be of critical importance in shaping our cities into clearer and greener spaces, and people will continuously depend on the development of new environmental technologies in order to correct environmental damages.

This paper explores community-based flood disaster risk governance by applying a sensemaking approach. The conceptual sensemaking framework consists of individual experience, dialogue, and socialization components, which together comprise an interconnected system. This study presents a method for applying this framework by using a concerns table and a SWOT analysis to examine the concerns of residents living in a flood plain. A series of community-based workshops on flood risk reduction was conducted with residents of the floodprone Muraida community in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. During the workshops, residents’ concerns regarding flood risk surfaced. This study used an idiographic approach to examine the proceedings of the workshops. SWOT issue analysis was used to examine the strengths and weaknesses in the Muraida community’s internal capacities, and examine the opportunities and threats in the external capacities (e.g., local government). Additionally, a SWOT strategy analysis was conducted to identify strategies for knowledge sharing and development of cooperative countermeasures that can be undertaken between the Muraida community and the local government. The results show that the concerns table can not only summarize the main concerns of all workshops, but also provide an understanding of alternative flood risk countermeasures that can be carried out.

This paper aims to explore the risk governance framework and socially viable solutions, attempting to provide guidance for the decision making process. The key idea of this study start with overcoming the limitations of IRGC risk governance framework, which mainly focuses on a comprehensive framework for risk governance. This article has employed SWOT analysis as a methodology, which is a strategic planning technique used to help identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to business competition or risk management. In this paper, socially viable solutions as an alternative plan place emphasis on the adoption of concern assessment through a concerns table. It is also proposed that scoping has to get introduced, with SWOT analysis in the process. The results of this paper support that multiple stakeholders have to participate in the process of identifying and framing risk and communicating with each other, considering the context. It should be noted that communities can become involved and take important parts in decision making process in various ways. It is recommended that engaging stakeholders to both risk assessment and risk management is material to dealing with risk in a socially viable way. It also implies that the community-based disaster management should be better prepared for the decision making process in socially viable solutions.