• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.69-75
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• 2009

This paper examines the evolving role of ijang(village representative) and his job stress during Pyeongchang floods in 2006. Results based on telephone survey and interviews reveal that ijang played a crucial role in evacuating residents, allocating resources and commanding the recovery, although official job description considered him as only a mediator between local officers and villagers. Moreover, unexpected enormous burden created severe job stress to many ijangs; while 60 percent felt like quitting the job, about three fourth felt fretful whenever the telephone rang and lost some weights. Chi-square analysis also indicated that previous job training, villagers' abuse, and disaster damages were significantly related with job stress. These results suggest that the emergent human resources model rather than the command and control model can be an effective approach for a disaster management plan in rural Korea.