Global warming and climate change significantly increase the frequency of coastal floods caused by sea level rise (SLR) as a permanent factor and hydrometeorological hazards as tentative factors. The combined risks will affect coastal communities. South Korea is gradually facing SLR risks, mainly in its southern coastal regions; however, disaster risk reduction (DRR) in coastal regions remains fragmented. This study aimed to investigate the status of DRR for coastal communities in South Korea by looking at government practices and testimonies from residents. This study reviewed DRR-related regulations and documents and collected data from interviews with local government officials, field visits, and informal conversations with residents in six coastal communities. The findings show that the coastal communities were less resilient to coastal floods than to other hazards, such as typhoons and heavy rains, and the potential consequences could be expanded due to demographic challenges, fragmented institutional systems, and low risk awareness. Moreover, this study emphasized the necessity of an integrated approach to reducing the impact of coastal floods caused by both SLR and other factors. It also highlighted the importance of coastal community engagement in local DRR activities through increasing risk awareness and adapting to environmental change based on appropriate risk information disclosure by the government. The impacts of coastal floods triggered by SLR and other hazard factors can be reduced by aligning practical regulatory measures with adaptive strategies and enhancing the disaster resilience of coastal communities.

With the growth of the magnesium recycling market, the risk of fire and explosion has been raised over time. In particular, dross generated in the process of magnesium recycling is not considered as a hazardous material even though it contains a lot of pure magnesium and/or magnesium compounds. There are few safety measures to prevent and respond to potential fires and explosions in the magnesium recycling process and to protect employees. Therefore, this study aims to identify appropriate safety measures to reduce the risk of fire and explosion in the magnesium recycling process by looking at two actual magnesium fire cases and relevant criteria in South Korea, the US, and Japan. Also, a combustion experiment using magnesium powder was conducted to identify the significant combustion phenomena of magnesium. Lastly, we developed a fire safety mechanism of magnesium, including chemical reaction, smoldering, and ignition. Each phase presents five contents for different safety measures in the visibility of combustion reaction, the velocity of the combustion reaction, identification methods, response measure, and possible responders. Although this study focused on dross from the magnesium recycling process, it is expected to be useful to develop a better risk management strategy to reduce the risks in the recycling process of metals.

Magnesium is a combustible metal that poses various safety risks, including fires and explosions. However, there are limited safety measures available to prevent and respond to potential fires and explosion incidents in the metal industry. In this study, the combustion process of Mg fires was closely examined using infrared thermal imaging, focusing on the effects of Mg powder size. For the experiment, Mg powder was burned by increasing the temperature to approximately 967.4 K using an ignition unit and controller equipped with a tungsten heater. Moreover, combustion velocity measurement experiments for Mg particle sizes of 75, 100, and 150 μm were conducted using the combustion velocity measurement device presented in the NFPA 484 standard. On combustion of Mg, flames are observed; smoke is emitted as demonstrated by thermal and flow visualization experiments. The combustion velocity measurement experiment results demonstrated that the greater the slope value (combustion velocity) for the combustion length over time, the faster is the combustion velocity, with the 75 μm particle size having the fastest combustion velocity. The results of this experiment can be utilized as references for Mg fire control design and to gain a better understanding of the scope of smoke and fire hazard investigation measures.

This article aims to encourage NEMA (or newly named as MPSS) to combine its supply-centered paradigm with a newly proposed “demand-centered paradigm” in the Korean field of emergency management training (EMT). Based on qualitative content analysis, this paper defined the current field of EMT to be a supply-centered paradigm via three components: locations, courses, and participants. This paradigm focuses on EMT provision as supplied and dictated by the national government. On the other hand, a demand-centered model is about looking into stakeholders’ actual needs for EMT. In this regard, alternatives with reference to the demand-centered paradigm via the same three components were discussed and considered. The key tenet is that having revealed that NEMA has unequivocally focused on the results side or effectiveness of EMT via a supply-centered paradigm, Korea should address and consider the same three components, this time by fusing and incorporating a fair process of EMT by enlisting active roles from the local community, academic scholars, and civilian training attendees in a demand-centered paradigm.