We compared the susceptibility to spontaneous combustion of low-rank coals dried by four different processes: flash drying, fluidized bed drying, non-fried carbon briquetting, and coal-oil slurry dewatering. The coals were characterized by FT-IR and XPS analysis. A crossing-point temperature (CPT) was estimated as a comparison criterion of the susceptibility of the coals to spontaneous combustion. O2, CO, and CO2 emissions during the CPT measurement were also compared. The FT-IR and XPS analysis revealed that some of the oxygen functional groups on the surface of the coal were removed when the coal underwent the drying process. This phenomenon was particularly noticeable in the coal dried by oil. Accordingly, the CPT of the coal that went through this drying process was high. Among the samples, the coals dried by oil showed the highest CPT.