hankyoreh

Foreign envoys to Korea take part in a second meeting on the government’s response measures for the 2023 World Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum on Aug. 7 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

The 2023 World Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum is effectively coming to an early end following difficulties with extreme heat and a lack of preparations.

The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) made the decision to leave the site early, citing safety concerns with an approaching typhoon. The South Korean government developed emergency plans to assume responsibility for the attendees’ accommodations, meals, and schedule for the remainder of their visit after departing the campground.

For the time until their originally scheduled departure date, the jamboree participants appear set to stay at gyms, university dormitories, and other accommodations in the greater Seoul area while taking in alternative programs such as sightseeing and K-pop performances.

A UK scout rests in the shade at an event held in Gwanghwamun Square on Aug. 7 after the country’s contingent pulled out early from the World Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum. (Kim Jung-hyo/The Hankyoreh)

But given the nature of the jamboree as an event and the spirit associated with the scout movement, the satisfaction attendees get from alternative programs appears unlikely to go far in making up for the inadequacies and problems with the event’s management.

“During a meeting of the World Organization of the Scout Movement this morning, it was suggested that the jamboree event needed to be relocated from the Saemangeum campground to a different, safer location following the Korea Meteorological Administration’s predictions that Typhoon Khanun will be passing over the Korean Peninsula,” said Kim Hyun-sook, the minister of gender equality and a jamboree organizing committee co-chair, in a briefing Monday afternoon at the jamboree’s press center.

She went on to say that the administration was “examining a jamboree national disaster emergency response plan in order to commit our energies to safety at the World Scout Jamboree.”

The most likely destination for the relocated attendees is the greater Seoul area.

Kim Sung-ho, a vice minister for disaster and safety management, explained that the plan was to “provide comfortable and safe accommodations by securing as much space as possible with administrative institutions and private educational facilities primarily in the capital region, which is not expected to be directly affected by the typhoon.”

A participant in the jamboree tears down a banner at the Saemangeum campsite on Aug. 7, the day that it was announced all participants would be moved from the camp early due to the incoming typhoon. (Yonhap)

The participants’ withdrawal from the jamboree site was scheduled to begin at 10 am on Tuesday. Over 1,000 buses were enlisted to relocate around 37,000 attendees from 156 countries. The Saemangeum campground is to be closed once all the attendees have left.

Kim Hyun-sook insisted that the jamboree “will continue” and that the event was “only being relocated due to a natural disaster.” But her remarks are unlikely to hold much meaning in the event, since the departure from the original site means participants will be following a sightseeing schedule unrelated to their scouting program.

She explained that the current plan is to “acquire accommodations mainly in the capital region and request the cooperation of different mayors and provincial governments to provide sightseeing and education programs in conjunction with various local governments.”

In a message posted on its official website around 2 pm on Monday, the WOSM announced that it had “received confirmation this morning from the Government of the Republic of Korea that due to the expected impact of Typhoon Khanun, an early departure will be planned for all participants at the 25th World Scout Jamboree from the campsite in SaeManGeum.”

“The Government informed WOSM that they will soon provide details of the departure plans and the venues that will host the participants,” the announcement continued.

“We urgently call on the [South Korean] Government to [. . .] provide all necessary resources and support for participants during their stay and until they return to their home countries,” it said.

The same evening, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered the operation of an emergency countermeasures team for the jamboree headed by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and including ministers from different administration offices, the National Police Agency commissioner general, and the mayor of Seoul.

Yoon tasked the team with the implementation of an emergency plan for relocating the attendees to the greater Seoul area and providing accommodations.

By Kim Yong-hee, Gwangju correspondent; Chai Yoon-tae, staff reporter; Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]