Old people are more subject to the impacts of emergencies and disasters because of their socio-economic and physical vulnerability. “Disaster Risk and Age Index” was released in June, 2016, which provides a country-by-country analysis of the disaster hazard faced by old populations in 190 countries based on three dimensions: exposure to hazard, vulnerability, and lack of coping capacity. According to the report, developed countries such as the United States and Japan have strong capacity and low vulnerability scores which help reduce the risk to older people despite high hazard exposure values. On the contrary, it reveals elderly in South Korea have week capacity and high vulnerability scores despite comparatively low disaster risk.Accordingly, this study aims to figure out the problems of disaster management services in South Korean elderly and discuss implications through the example of U.S. For this study, it may be useful to start out by understanding the concept of old people as a vulnerable population during disasters through preceding research. Next, the analysis on current disaster management services for elderly in South Korea will be conducted focusing on vulnerability and coping capacity as a framework. Finally, the study will take a look at an example of disaster management services for elderly in the U.S. to suggest implications and strategies for improvement.
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