The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 in the United Kingdom provides a comprehensive definition of “Emergency”, calling upon the Uk’s emergency management to deal with any disaster risk regardless of cause or source. Old contingency plans for civil defense and peacetime emergencies have been integrated into current integrated emergency management. In the UK, emergencies are managed by emergency services and other responders at the local level without direct involvement of central government. On top of this, a classified assessment of the risks of civil emergencies is also conducted on a regular basis, not only at the local level but also at the national level. This research looks into the Uk’s emergency management system, including recent changes, and its risk assessment systems. Finally, the research draws policy implications for the development of Korea’s disaster management mechanism as follows: 1) Korea should adopt an integrated emergency management system and combine civil defense with peacetime emergency planning, 2) it should create inter-operability between emergency responding organizations such as police, fire and ambulance, and finally 3) it must develop risk evaluating tools, such as a Community Risk Register and National Risk Register, both at the local and the national level. Last but not least, the UK emergency management system cannot be directly lifted from the UK and applied to risks and hazards faced by South Korea. Therefore, cross-cultural synthesis of many national approaches to emergency management is further required particularly for customizing policy to the particular needs of Korea.