The need to transform from one-way to two-way natural disaster management

Abstract

Various natural disasters have caused catastrophic effects in North Korea despite the assistance received from international partners. This study aimed to comprehensively examine how the field of North Korean natural disaster management has addressed the issue of all stakeholders toward the ultimate goal of disaster management. Through qualitative content analysis, a comparison was carried out between one-way and two-way natural disaster management. Four stakeholders were used as comparative variables, namely, North Korea, major neighboring countries, international nongovernmental organizations, and the United Nations. A key finding is that the North Korean field of disaster management has to shift from one-way to two-way natural disaster management while addressing market-oriented governance, transnational disaster management, and system modernization, as well as the assigned roles of the four stakeholders.