This study is carried out in order to propose a drought risk assessment methodology. This methodology is required to deal with practical questions that a variety of stakeholder often raise in the course of discussions on mitigation measures. With a focus on the socioeconomic aspect of drought, more particularly, residents’ hardship from water scarcity, it suggests basic concepts and a system of methods in order to assess hazard, exposure, vulnerability and risk. The case study shows a considerable possibility of the methodology in evaluating potential levels of damages in a certain area, in identifying the boundary of districts where risk is disproportionately concentrated, and also in understanding the underlying risk factors of those districts. The authors think that the proposed methodology is able to offer risk information in terms of socioeconomic damages, and therefore contribute to reducing information gaps that policy-makers are currently encountered with.

South Korea is a maritime nation, surrounded by water on three sides; hence, it is important to preserve in a sustainable manner. Most areas, especially those bordering the East Sea, have been suffering from severe coastal erosion. Information on the sediment yield of a river basin is an important requirement for water resources development and management. In Korea, data on suspended sediment yield are limited owing to a lack of logistic support for systematic sediment sampling activities. This paper presents an integrated approach to estimate the sediment yield for ungauged coastal basins by using a soil erosion model and a sediment delivery rate model in a geographic information system (GIS)-based platform. For applying the sediment yield model, a basin specific parameter was validated on the basis of field data, that, ranging from 0.6 to 1.2 for the 19 gauging stations. The calculated specific sediment yield ranged from 17 to 181 t/km2.yr in the various basin sizes of Korea. We obtained reasonable sediment yield values when comparing the measured data trends around the world with those in Korean basins.