The Gaps Between Institutional and Practical Disaster Risk Management Measures on Coastal Flood Risks in South Korea’s Coastal Communities

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.


Introduction
Since the 1800s, human activities have advanced to involve the use of fossil fuels, as well as urbanization and industrialization.It resulted in significant contemporary climate change (IPCC 2007;IPCC 2021;UN n.d.), growth of CO 2 emission, greenhouse effect, and global warming acceleration (IPCC 2021).Scientists have warned us of global temperatures possibly exceeding the climate target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, which is the worstcase scenario and could pose threats to the Earth's environment and humans (Wang and Kim 2021;IPCC 2023).
Global warming detrimentally affects sea level rise (SLR) (DeConto and Pollard 2016; NOAA 2022), as well as causes an increase of the probability of hydrometeorological hazards (IPCC 2023).According to data collected by a satellite system observing the global sea level from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Goddard Space Flight Center, the sea level in January 2023 had risen approximately 103 mm since 1993 (NASA 2024).Owing to higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the accelerated collapse of ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, the average SLR is expected to reach 2.2 m and 3.9 m by 2100 and 2115, respectively, in several coastal areas of the United States (NOAA 2022).As a result, SLR and hydrometeorological hazards will affect the intensity of coastal floods depending on the specific locations and coastal topography (Lazrus 2012;Martinich et al. 2013;Vitousek et al. 2017;Hauer et al. 2020;Cao et al. 2021;UN 2023).The notable impacts of SLR include submergence of lowlying areas during high tide (Cooper et al 2013), increased coastal floods (Sweet et al. 2014;Vitousek et al. 2017), accelerated coastal erosion (Anderson et al. 2015), change of ocean wave dynamics (Grady et al. 2013), and coastal community displacement (Nicholls et al. 2007).However, the impact of coastal floods caused by the combined risks of SLR, as a permanent factor, and other coastal hazards, such as typhoons and storm surges, as tentative factors, has been inadequately considered and is underestimated (Vitousek et al. 2017).
As one of the countries at risk of coastal floods with SLR, South Korea, especially in the southern and eastern coastal regions, has faced the potential impact of SLR (Kim et al. 2017).For example, between 2016 and 2020, Haeundae Beach, the most famous beach in South Korea, located in southeastern Busan, lost over 20% of its white sand (approximately 41,954 m 2 ) owing to accelerated coastal erosion caused by the complex effects of SLR with other factors, such as typhoons and storm surges (Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries 2023).It is expected that the SLR combined with hydrometeorological hazards will intensify coastal floods in low-lying coastal areas in South Korea (Kim et al. 2017).
Considering the risks of coastal floods, a Korean local government has released a list of coastal communities in the southern coastal regions that are vulnerable to coastal hazards, particularly coastal flooding in low-lying areas.The list also addresses the issue of accessible evacuation shelters in the coastal regions located in low-lying areas.Coastal regions are one of the most vulnerable parts to coastal floods due to SLR and other coastal hazards, which are gradually and suddenly appearing.The government and coastal communities need to prepare for the risks of coastal flooding due to SLR and hydrometeorological hazards and learn adaptive strategies for living in the coastal areas.
However, disaster risk management (DRM) at the local level easily overlooks the combined effects of SLR and coastal hazards, such as typhoons, dynamic waves, and storm surges.Moreover, although numerous studies have focused on the phenomenon of climate change surrounding the Korean peninsula in coastal engineering, little attention has been paid to DRM, which must contemplate the risks of coastal hazards due to continued SLR and intensified coastal hazards in some low-lying coastal communities on the Korean peninsula.
Hence, this study aimed to investigate the environmental status of low-lying coastal communities and the practical gaps between the institutional DRM strategies of local governments and their implementation in the coastal communities in the context of South Korea.It also aimed to suggest strategies for disaster risk reduction (DRR) in coastal regions based on field surveys and regulatory reviews.This study focused mainly on the risks of coastal floods triggered by combined hazards of SLR and coastal hazards in the southern coastal region of South Korea.Six coastal communities in the southeastern region, which are gradually exposed to these combined risks, were selected to identify the practical gaps of the current DRM.The study areas have been identified by local governments as vulnerable to the combined effects of increasing sea levels from long-term SLR, as a permanent cause, and hydrometeorological hazards, as a temporary cause.The data were collected through an in-depth group interview with local government officials responsible for managing disaster risks at the local level, as well as field notes during conversations with local community members in the study areas.Moreover, several documents, including regulations, guidelines, reports, and official releases related to the DRM and SLR phenomenon published by the Korean government, were reviewed to understand national and international efforts to reduce SLR risks.
The remainder of this article is structured as follows.Section 2 describes SLR in South Korea and reviews regulations and strategies related to SLR and coastal hazards released by South Korea and international organizations.Section 3 gives an overview of the study areas and data collection methods.Section 4 presents the results.Section 5 discusses the findings of the study and the necessity of further study, and Sect.6 concludes the article.

Theoretical Background and Regulation Review
The acceleration of global sea level rise is often cited as one of the most visible consequences of global warming and climate change.The strategy for adapting to sea level rise varies depending on geographic conditions, coping capacity, and regulations.This section describes the impact of sea level rise and coastal floods in the context of South Korea, as well as national and international strategies for collectively reducing the risks associated with sea level rise.According to a 2020 Korean climate change assessment report, the three coastal regions are projected to experience higher water levels than other areas under the representative concentration pathway (RCP) 8.5 scenario (Korea Meteorological Administration 2020).Moreover, the RCP 8.5 scenario shows that the average sea level in the above three coastal regions of South Korea is expected to increase by a maximum of about 76.3 cm by 2100.

Sea Level Rise and Coastal Floods in South Korea
The most significant effects of SLR in South Korea include an increasing risk of coastal flooding in coastal communities, elevated shoreline retreat rate, and ecosystem destruction in coastal areas (Hong and Grydehøj 2022).These effects highlight potential consequences, including the seafood industry's decline, further destruction of marine coastal ecosystems, and negative impacts on infrastructure facilities and industrial complexes in coastal areas (Korea Meteorological Administration 2020).The 2020 Korean Climate Change Assessment Report (Korea Meteorological Administration 2020) and several studies (Lee 2014;Ku et al. 2021) have highlighted countermeasures to reduce coastal flood risks that are heightened by SLR and other factors, such as storm surges and typhoons, in coastal communities and protect coastal ecology systems.Moreover, the southern coast, where seafood industries depend on coastal ecosystems, including mudflats and river mouths, may be affected shortly and outstandingly by SLR because of accelerated global warming (Korea Meteorological Administration 2020).This could also threaten the residents' safety and livelihoods in coastal communities.Under the Carbon Neutrality Act, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced significant measures to enhance coastal area capacity to adapt to climate change over the next decade, from 2023 to 2032 (Ministry of Environment 2023).Specifically, considering the consistent SLR, one of the measures involves preventing coastal flooding by improving structural safety (for example, buildings), strengthening protective structures (for example, higher seawalls, protective walls, and inundation prevention hills), and sustaining the safety maintenance of facilities in vulnerable coastal areas (UN 2023).

Disaster
Busan Metropolitan City, one of the largest port cities in South Korea, is planning to build a floating city on the ocean by 2030 under the Oceanic Smart City project (UN-Habitat 2022).This project is being carried out by the United Nations, under the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, to prepare for rising sea levels and coastal submergence, using eco-friendly technologies that minimize pollution in oceanic ecosystems.This planned floating city on the ocean is expected to resist high waves, typhoons, and SLR.

International Collective Efforts for Sea Level Rise Risk
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) highlighted that global warming-induced thermal expansion of seawater contributed 50% of the increase in global sea level between 1971 and 2018, whereas melting continental glaciers and ice sheets were significant factors to SLR between 2006 and 2018 (WMO 2023).Furthermore, the WMO noted that there is a high risk of continued global SLR in the near future owing to the Antarctic ice sheet melting.Considering the above, significant efforts have been made by the international community to prepare for the potential impacts of rising sea levels.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also warned about SLR risk, indicating that global warming and climate change will cause the average sea level to rise by 3 to 10 cm per decade for the next century (IPCC 1990).In Asia, it is expected that the range of SLR related to climate change will be from 0.3-0.5 m in SSP1-2.6, in which the temperature rise limit is supposed to be below 2 degrees Celsius by 2100 to 0.7-0.8m in SSP5-8.5, under a scenario in which there is consistent dependence on fossil fuels and GHG emissions from 2081 to 2100, compared to that from 1995 to 2014 (IPCC 2021).Consequently, future SLR induced by climate change and global warming will have cascading effects, including increasing hydrometeorological hazards, such as coastal floods, storm surges, and heavy rainfall.It also results in the permanent submergence of coastal regions and numerous islands, damage to indigenous people, cities, local communities, and coastal ecosystems, and destruction of coastal food production systems with socioeconomic consequences related to household income.Ultimately, a large number of animals and people will lose their means of survival and livelihood, respectively (IPCC 2022).
Furthermore, in 2015, 196 countries adopted the Paris Agreement, an international treaty aimed at limiting the average global temperature increase to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and encouraging countries to make further efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) (UNFCC 2015).Despite efforts to reduce GHG emissions, a study that considered the accelerated effects of climate change that exceeded the Paris Agreement goals indicated the possibility of a rapid and irreversible SLR triggered by the melting ice sheets from Antarctica (DeConto et al. 2021).

Case Study
The southern coastal region of South Korea is one of the most vulnerable regions to hydrometeorological hazards and faces risks of SLR.This case study explicitly focused on Geoje City, which is an island in the southern region that is exposed to various coastal hazards, and examined the environment and regional disaster risk reduction strategies.This section provides an insight into the study area, including geographic and demographic information of the study area.It also introduces the methods employed for data collection and analysis.

Study Areas
The study area consists of six communities in Geoje City, located on Geoje Island along South Korea's southern coast, specifically within the South Gyeongsang Province and neighboring Busan Metropolitan City.The selected areas were directly and severely affected by 2003 Typhoon Maemi, one of the most severe typhoons in South Korea (NDMI 2003).Since then, local governments have significantly progressed in reducing natural hazard risks.The government has prepared a list of high-risk areas that could be potentially affected by hydrometeorological hazards, including floods, coastal flooding, storm surges, and tsunamis caused by geophysical hazards.The document indicates the specific territories in which the high-risk areas are located; accessible emergency evacuation shelter locations in the aforementioned areas; emergency contact information of people responsible for managing the shelters; the estimated number of residents who could be affected; and the number of vulnerable people, including senior adults and those with disabilities.After reviewing the local hazard information document prepared by the government, we selected study areas at town levels that were classified as being potentially flood-prone and low-lying lands.The six specific areas from A to F, at the district level, are indicated by the red boxes in Fig. 1.
Table 1 lists some basic information about the study areas, including the total population, the number of people above 60 years of age and its percentage in the total population, and the fundamental income source in each area.The study areas are located close to or face the coastlines and are backed by hills on the island.According to available information from the town governments, the average percentage of population over the age of 60 years in the six studied areas was about 55.2 % of the total population.Area E has a higher number of population than other areas because of the many outsiders working in factories related to the shipbuilding industry.Although the large shipbuilding industry is Geoje City's primary source of income, study areas A-F rely on fishing.Owing to the increasingly aging population and broader disengagement of the younger generation in these areas, the number of people working in the fishery industry is declining.

Methods
To collect meaningful data, this study conducted field surveys on 13 and 14 February 2023.The surveys aimed to investigate disaster risk reduction measures against coastal hazards, disaster preparedness, hazard maps, evacuation shelters, and disaster-related records.Another data source was informal conversations with ten residents from Areas A, E, and F and field observations in the six study areas.Three of these residents were from Area A, two were from Area E, and five were from Area F. Owing to the absence of residents and the low willingness of people to have conversations, the residents who had conversations with us were randomly selected while we visited each coastal community.Informal conversation was employed to obtain more naturalistic data and make people feel more comfortable (Swain and King 2022).During the conversations, we intended to gather information about the practical application of the DRR strategy, disaster experiences, received disaster risk information, perceived disaster risks, the disaster-linked transformation of environments, and the current concerns regarding disaster risks.
Besides field surveys, we conducted a group interview at the provincial government office on 15 February 2023.Six officials from the provincial government, who are responsible for developing and implementing the DRR strategy, managing hazard maps, and disseminating risk information to the public, were invited to the interview.The interview questions were semistructured and divided into three parts: evacuation shelter management as a DRR strategy for coastal floods owing to SLR, developing hazard maps, and DRR strategies for delaying SLR.Additional questions were flexibly designed based on the officials' responses during the interviews.The responses were analyzed using the content analysis method and categorized into two groups: (1) hazard maps and evacuation shelters and (2) the reality of DRR strategies.

Results
This section presents the results and findings from the data analysis in two parts.The first part describes coastal hazard risks and SLR in the context of the environment and local communities' experiences.The second part addresses practices in disaster risk reduction related to coastal hazard risks and SLR at the regional level.

Coastal Flooding Risks to Local Communities
As mentioned in the Methods section, the six study areas are primarily low-lying and prone to coastal floods.Table 2 summarizes the results of the data collected during the field visits and document review on DRR strategies for the communities.The categories are: (1) distance of the evacuation shelters from the coastline; (2) designated location of the evacuation shelter according to the reviewed document; (3) probable submergence level; (4) experience regarding

Distance from the Evacuation Shelters to the Coastline
The distance between each shelter and its closest coastline was measured.In four out of the six areas, the evacuation shelters were located within 40 m of the coastline.For example, the distance between the coastline and the evacuation shelter in Area E was 11.4 m (Fig. 2).In Area F, the coast-

Designated Location of the Evacuation Shelter from the Reviewed Document
The document that we referred to for selecting the study areas included the emergency evacuation shelter's location in the designated coastal hazard risk area in each administrative district.As the document is accessible to the public, particularly those living near high-risk areas, the actual locations could be compared with those mentioned in the document.The shelter locations in Areas A and D did not match the addresses mentioned in the document.In Area A, although a directional sign indicates the evacuation shelter in town, the shelter is in the opposite direction (Fig. 3).In Area D, the address provided for the evacuation shelter is currently that of an accommodation facility.The owners of the facility were not aware that their address was assigned as an evacuation shelter for the community.Additionally, they were unaware of any other location in the area designated as an evacuation shelter.
Table 2 Status of evacuation shelters, preventive strategies, and risk awareness in the study areas Estimated submergence levels are: I: less than 0.5 m, II: 0.5-1.0m, III: 1.0-1.5 m, IV: 1.5-2.0m, V: 2.0-3.0 m, VI: over 3.0 m (Source Korea Safety Map); The shortest distance between the evacuation shelter and the coastline was measured by using an electronic map source.There might be a measuring error of 1-10 m.

Probable Submergence Level
This study referred to a web-based system called Korea Safety Map, developed by the South Korean government.
Besides supplying risk-related information regarding hazards and accidents, the system also provides hazard maps for earthquakes, wildfires, landslides, river flooding, urban inundation, heatwave distribution, and coastal flooding.The coastal flood hazard map is based on a 100-year return period estimation for storm surges.Figure 4 indicates the estimated submergence levels for each study area, where the grades are between I and IV.The evacuation shelters in Areas A and B are not only near but also face the estimated submergence line.In contrast, those in Areas C and D are relatively safe and at higher levels above the ground.The evacuation shelters in Areas E and F are located at areas with inundation risk of Grade I.

Experience Regarding Inundation of Evacuation Shelters and Areas
During the field surveys, we randomly had informal conversations and inquired with residents living along the coastline about their experiences with coastal hazards and SLR.As mentioned earlier, informal conversations were conducted with 10 residents in Areas A (two), E (three), and F (five) due to the small population and their low willingness to communicate with people from outside the community.The common responses identified during the conversations were that they experienced coastal flooding caused by heavy rainfall or typhoons at high tide.Plus, these residents mentioned that coastal flooding seemed more intensified whenever it occurred compared to before.The residents whom we met have recognized the change in sea levels somehow in front of their houses.Based on the informal conversations, three main comments are summarized below.
We have not recently experienced a strong typhoon.However, 5-6 years ago, a typhoon caused heavy rainfall that exceeded my expectations.Unfortunately, this occurred during a high tide period.I feared that coastal floods and big waves would sweep away my house.I did not know the nearest evacuation shelter, so I ran to my nearest neighbor's house, which was situated on higher ground.I have noticed that the sea level has gradually increased compared to the past.I am concerned about future coastal floods in our town because everyone in our community is older.(Comment of Area A resident) I moved to this town five or six years ago and have been running my own business here, facing the coastline.I heard that this town, particularly the houses built along the coastline, experienced flooding during Typhoon Maemi in 2003; fortunately, there were no significant damages.(Comment of Area E resident) I have worked in this town as a fisherman for over 30 years.In the past, this area experienced frequent flooding whenever a typhoon hit with strong winds and heavy rainfall.Although our evacuation shelter building had a basement, it got flooded in 2003.Subsequently, we rebuilt the town community center, which serves as an evacuation shelter and has not experienced inundation since.(Comment of area F resident) In addition to the informal conversations, we intended to ask the residents about the differences in the current coastal environment compared to approximately 20-30 years ago. .

Community center designated as an evacuation shelter
We also provided some brief information about SLR.Some senior residents, based on their long-term experience, made some valuable comments.Although there was no notable and tangible evidence, they felt that the effect of SLR appeared somehow.The effect exists in many ways.One example is that coastal flooding occurs more frequently, regardless of the scale of high tides and typhoons.The other example is rainwater flown down from a mountain behind a coastal community (see Fig. 5), which was not well drained into the ocean through the water drainage system during heavy rainfall.Sometimes, drained water had flown backward or flooded over docks.However, they are not well informed about its risks or that of coastal floods and the possible effects of SLR on ordinary days and have rarely engaged in local DRR activities.

Preventive Measures for Coastal Flooding
According to a local government document, plans were made to reinforce preventive measures along coastlines based on past experiences with typhoons, coastal flooding, and the environmental conditions of low-lying land.However, the plan was only applied to Area F, where the coastline was expanded by more than 10 m through ocean reclamation, with the construction of a 260 m long seawall (see Fig. 6).

Public Availability of Hazard Maps in the Study Areas
During our field visits to the six areas, there were no signs or information regarding hazard maps for coastal flooding or tsunamis along the coastline.This information is important because it helps people become aware of evacuation shelter locations during emergencies and the areas that might be submerged when a typhoon with heavy rainfall strikes.This study found no publicly available information on hazard maps for the study areas.However, there was a sign indicating the past coastal flooding level from the 2003 Typhoon Maemi on the external walls of the evacuation building in Area B, as shown in Fig. 7.

Current Status of Disaster Risk Reduction at the Provincial and Local Government Levels
Based on the findings from the field survey in the coastal areas of Geoje City, interviews with provincial government officials examined the current practices in disaster risk reduction for natural hazards, including coastal hazards.This section presents the results in different categories: evacuation shelters, hazard maps, and disaster risk reduction strategies at the regional level.

Evacuation Shelter Designation
The interviews with government officials revealed that the local disaster risk management system is fragmented, with the involvement of different authorities and departments.This fragmentation has led to confusion during emergencies.For example, the municipal government's disaster management division designates flood-and disaster-prone areas based on the Natural Disasters Act, while the welfare division designates and manages emergency temporary housing, which must also function as emergency evacuation shelters as per the Disaster Relief Act.However, these housing units are not considered in disaster risk management planning.They are categorized as convenience facilities for citizens, with many of them being used as senior citizen centers or schools on ordinary days.Consequently, these emergency temporary housing units are often located in flood-or disaster-prone areas.In the study areas, most evacuation shelters were the closest senior citizen centers because of difficulties in accessing other shelter units, such as schools, town government offices, and public evacuation facilities by the elderly.
The interviews also revealed that in 2022, the government conducted a nationwide survey on the safety of emergency temporary housing to reduce flood risks.Many of the emergency temporary housings were located in low-lying coastal areas, which are 5 m below sea level.The government identified alternative buildings in safer areas to serve as new emergency temporary housing.However, despite the risks of floods, some of the housing has not been replaced in safer areas.According to the Disaster Relief Law, emergency temporary housing assignments are flexible and depend on disaster circumstances.
Furthermore, one respondent mentioned that although there are officially designated evacuation shelters, community members often choose to evacuate to safer areas or facilities during emergencies.This is because the evacuees are more familiar with their town or community environment and prefer to make their own decisions rather than relying on government officials, who are mostly outsiders.

Hazard Maps
Provincial and local governments in each region assess regional disaster risks and develop appropriate hazard maps using contracted expert groups.The national government encourages the use of the Korea Safety Map, which provides a wide range of safety and risk-related information, such as estimated inundation areas from coastal and river flooding, security, transportation, general accident occurrences, and available infrastructure.The web system is managed by the national government and regularly updated with the latest data collected from municipal and town governments, which identify high-risk areas in their regions through direct regional environmental investigations and report their findings to the national government.Ironically, risk information and hazard maps are not available to the general public for various reasons, including administrative relations, social impact, and economic-and policy-related reasons.

Disaster Risk Reduction at the Provincial and Local Government Levels
South Gyeongsang Province has experienced strong winds, heavy rainfall, and severe typhoons because its location is on the pathway of typhoons.Following these natural hazards, the provincial government has taken substantial steps to enhance local and community disaster resilience, including investing significant funds to strengthen river levees and drainage systems, increasing public risk awareness of disasters by developing educational programs and tools, and improving relevant regulatory instruments.Additionally, the national government plans to provide the public with more accurate and relevant risk-related information, including updated hazard maps.However, although the government is aware of the increased risk of coastal floods caused by SLR and other coastal hazards that will affect coastal areas of the South Gyeongsang Province shortly, in practice, the fact that the coastal areas could be inundated by SLR has not yet been fully contemplated and integrated into the regional disaster risk reduction strategy.

Discussion
This study focused on identifying gaps in the institutional DRR strategies and practices for coastal floods related to SLR and other coastal hazards, such as typhoons and storm surges, locally in South Korea.As mentioned earlier, coastal communities are currently threatened by coastal floods due to the long-term SLR effect and tentative coastal hazards.The progress of global warming and climate change increases the frequency and intensity of these hazards in coastal communities.These also often have other consequences, such as coastal erosion, sand loss on beaches, and submergence of coastal zones.Although there is little tangible evidence of SLR in the study areas, this study showed that the areas will be affected by coastal flood risks and the potential SLR effects, as well as both SLR and coastal hazard risks, considering rapid climate change.Additionally, coastal communities and their governments must prepare integrated DRR strategies that consider the effects of climate change, including SLR and hydrometeorological hazards.
Our results show that the national and local governments made fruitful efforts to reduce disaster risks and established DRR strategies and regulatory tools based on scientific knowledge and data.However, one finding shows that there are substantial discrepancies between adopted strategies and practices in the six coastal communities.For example, there was discordance in emergency information related to publicly informed locations of evacuation shelters and the inexistence of risk information related to the risks of coastal floods caused by various factors in the communities.Residents in coastal communities do not have opportunities to share their experiences and local knowledge regarding SLR risks with government officials.The residents are well aware of coastal floods that can be caused by SLR and hydrometeorological hazards permanently and temporarily.However, this study identified that government actions are very limited and passive to prepare for disaster risks.Ill-prepared DRR makes the population in coastal areas vulnerable to coastal floods and other hazards, and finally, it weakens the coping capacities of the coastal communities and residents in the face of upcoming disasters (Dedekorkut-Howes et al. 2021).
Studies have indicated that the gap between practices, science, and action in DRR can cause catastrophic economic and human losses for affected local communities and governments (Gaillard and Mercer 2013;Albris et al. 2020;Ogra et al. 2021).However, certain challenges exist in applying DRR strategies and relevant policies at the local level because it is often beyond the capacity of local communities to deal with disaster risks (Ogra et al. 2021).
Furthermore, the hazard maps released by the government and the indigenous knowledge of residents imply a high risk of coastal floods caused by SLR and other hydrometeorological factors in the near future.However, the risks of coastal floods and SLR, along with other coastal factors, are often overlooked by residents, practitioners, and the government in DRR strategies due to a lack of scientific knowledge and visibility of the potential impacts at the moment.This implies a need for increasing risk awareness and perception of coastal residents to prepare for the potential effects of climate change and global warming, including coastal floods and SLR.
Developing an adaptation strategy to coastal floods and SLR with increasing risk perception and awareness at the community level is a key element toward successful DRR and a more resilient society (Weber 2010;Shameem et al. 2015;Mucova et al. 2021;Roy et al. 2022).Given that SLR is a long-term phenomenon induced by climate change (Ali and Syfullah 2017), the governments in many other countries planned for their citizens living in coastal low-lying lands to be relocated to safer areas owing to SLR-related risk (Kniveton 2017;Albert et al. 2018).Flexible adaptation measures should be prepared to enhance the coping capacity to deal with such coastal hazard risks, including SLR (Haque et al. 2016;Jamero et al. 2017;Markphol et al. 2021).The governments must provide DRR measures that consider risk awareness and perception of coastal residents, indigenous knowledge, and consideration of adaptation strategies led by coastal communities so that the coastal community can enhance their coping capacity and resilience to climate change-induced coastal hazards (Roy et al. 2022).
Despite constant SLR risks, governments cannot relocate all coastal communities facing high coastal flooding and potential submergence likelihoods to higher or safer areas for several reasons, including spatial issues, replacement costs, and socioeconomic impacts.They should continuously increase alternative investments to reduce coastal floods with SLR risks and other factors and reinforce disaster prevention measures and equipment in coastal areas.This approach could involve vicious cycles of investment and sustainable maintenance for preventive facilities, expanding the inequality between coastal communities that have been invested in and those that have not been invested in at some point (Woodruff et al. 2018).However, this study showed that there is still room for improvement of DRR strategies considering coastal floods and SLR with other effects of climate change in the context of South Korea and such countries that do have high probabilities of SLR but do not have remarkable evidence yet.This study's findings imply that the following suggestions can help bridge the gaps between institutional and realistic practices in South Korea.
(1) The national government must develop an integrated DRR regulation and strategy to manage coastal floods as a result of SLR risks or combined SLR and increased hydrometeorological hazards.There are several limitations regarding data collection.First, the number of representative participants in the studied areas is small due to the residents' age groups and the absence of the residents.Second, there was a challenge to access government documents related to the results of scientific risk assessment and risk information involving actual hazard maps of the studied areas, which was due to governmental prioritization based on institutional and political considerations, including fear of land price decrease.
We investigated a single region; however, coastal floods with SLR issues are not limited to South Korea.Sea level rise is considered an "unthinkable" risk (UN News 2023), and many scientists and academics have stressed the importance of reducing climate change-related risks.This is currently a global issue, and there have been movements in other small coastal communities.Preparation for protection from complex risks with SLR and other coastal hazards increased by climate change requires further research on the relevant strategies and DRR activities conducted in different countries that have already confronted potential effects of coastal hazards with SLR, and the enhancement of regulatory instruments and educational programs to increase risk perception and awareness.
Compounded by an aging population in these small coastal communities, disaster resilience is weak compared to that in demographically balanced regions.Coastal flooding with SLR may also affect the fishery industry, which is the primary source of income for coastal communities.National and local governments must establish an integrated and multilevel DRR governance that comprehensively addresses all hazards and bridges the gap between regulations and practices.This study highlights the urgency of recalibrating approaches to DRR to prepare for coastal floods with SLR and complex risks.By aligning regulatory measures with real-life practices and capitalizing on local wisdom, a path can be built toward enhancing community disaster resilience that can withstand the challenges of climate change and global warming.

Conclusion
In numerous countries, small coastal communities and islands are already grappling with the tangible effects of coastal floods with SLR caused by global warming and climate change.The initial stages of SLR may predominantly threaten communities with other hazard risks.Notably, combined hazards with coastal floods and SLR have appeared over several decades, and coastal communities together with the national and local governments must prepare for the hazards.By leveraging their local knowledge and past experiences, these coastal communities can be pivotal in enhancing local disaster resilience.
Nevertheless, a critical gap exists between regulatory frameworks encompassing practical DRR strategies and their applications, especially in South Korea.Focusing on coastal floods with SLR, this study examined the current landscape of DRR strategies and their implementation within coastal communities.Fragmented institutional systems have created complex dynamics among the authorities.Relevant risk information related to citizens' lives and livelihoods has not been appropriately disclosed owing to social and political issues.Given the intangible nature of the potential effects of coastal floods with SLR and the current inadequacy of the institutional system, the importance of reducing the risks of sea level rise and climate change in the DRR realm remains overshadowed.

Fig. 1
Fig.1The six study areas (red boxes) in South Gyeongsang Province line has been reclaimed and extended to reduce coastal flood risks since Typhoon Maemi in 2003.Only two shelters, built in Areas C and D, were 119 m and 275 m, respectively, from the coastline.Although the evacuation shelters in Areas A, B, E, and F experienced coastal flooding in 2003, their twostory evacuation shelter buildings may have made vertical evacuation possible.

Fig. 2
Fig. 2 Distance between the coastline and a community center, designated as the sole evacuation center in Area E. Photograph by Hyejeong Park, Geoje City, South Korea, 2022.

Fig. 3
Fig. 3 Sign showing the wrong direction of the community evacuation shelter in Area A. Photograph by Hyejeong Park, Geoje City, South Korea, 2022.

Fig. 4
Fig.4In some areas, evacuation shelters are located near or within possible inundation areas Source Adapted from the Korea Safety Map (https:// www.safem ap.go.kr/ main/ smap.do).

Fig. 5 Fig. 6
Fig. 5 The community center (evacuation shelter) and the location of the mountain in Area A. Photograph by Hyejeong Park, Geoje City, South Korea, 2022.

Fig. 7
Fig. 7 Indication of submergence level during the 2003 Typhoon Maemi (0.40 m and 7.66 m above the ground and sea level, respectively) on the evacuation shelter building in Area B. Photograph by Hyejeong Park, Geoje City, South Korea, 2022.
long and low-lying, will be directly exposed to SLR risks with coastal floods.The actual sea level in the Korean peninsula increased annually by an average of 4.27 mm between 2011 and 2020 (Ministry of Environment 2014; Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries 2021).
and acidification, SLR has already been observed in South Korea.These changes have occurred faster than the global average (Ministry of Environment 2014).Consequently, the three regions (south, east, and west) of the Korean peninsula, which are particularly

Table 1
Basic demographic information of the study areas Coastal communities must better understand the appropriate risk information disseminated by national and local governments to enhance disaster resilience.As the recent population trend in South Korea indicates an aging society, especially in rural regions, younger coastal area community members must contemplate educational programs for older members and support measures for effective and efficient evacuation during emergencies.