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Ambulances and EMTs stand by outside the hospital on the grounds of the World Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province, on Aug. 3. (Yonhap)

Concerns of safety hazards are mounting amid scorching temperatures and poor management at the 2003 World Scout Jamboree that kicked off on Tuesday in southwestern Korea. Korea’s government convened an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss response measures once there were widespread reports of problems at the international event attended by more than 43,000 people from 158 countries across the globe.

Despite a series of warnings that there had been troublingly insufficient responses to intense heat ahead of the gathering of scouts, authorities only stepped in once things had reached a boiling point as hundreds of participants required treatment for heat-related illnesses.

The organizing committee of the World Scout Jamboree on Thursday announced that 207 more participants had been confirmed to have heat-related illnesses on Wednesday, with 108 treated for heat-induced illness at the opening ceremony alone.

Prior to the scout gathering, there had been predictions that heat could have dangerous consequences. Buan County in North Jeolla Province, where the gathering is being held, has been under heat wave warning since July 28. The mercury reached a high of 34 degrees Celsius (93° F) in Buan during the daytime on Tuesday, when the opening ceremony was held, with it remaining at a balmy 27°C as of 9 that night when the ceremonies were still well underway.

The weather in the area where the Jamboree is taking place has been under a “warning” for heat wave effects since the event kicked off. Heat wave effect forecasts are divided into the levels of “watch” “advisory” “warning” and “danger,” with the Korea Meteorological Administration advising that outdoor activities be avoided between the hours of noon to 5 pm when a warning is in effect.

Foreign governments with young people from their countries at the event have expressed concerns about the scouts’ well-being. It’s been confirmed that the UK, which at around 4,500 in attendance has the most participants at the gathering of any foreign country, urgently dispatched consular officials to the Jamboree site and related concern for safety of participants.

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office said that it is “in regular contact with both Scouts UK and the relevant Korean authorities to ensure the safety of British nationals.”

With around 1,000 Americans at the event, the US Embassy is reportedly in direct communication with the Korean government on the issue.

Both the Korean government and the event’s organizing committee have rushed to take additional measures. As of Thursday morning, the committee had repeated that there “are no major issues” and “no patients in critical condition.” Only on the third day of the gathering, after participants began posting on social media about the circumstances and reports of angry parents made the rounds, were plans put forth to bring in additional medical staff and create more air-conditioned facilities.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo ordered Gender and Family Minister Kim Hyun-sook, who serves as chairperson of the Jamboree’s joint organizing committee, to “have her feet on the ground and swiftly take all necessary measures as the executive in charge of oversight.” On Tuesday afternoon, Kim and Bang Moon-kyu, the minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, presided over an emergency meeting of the committee in Saemangeum to discuss responses.

Additionally, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety has provided 3 billion won (US$2.23 million) in emergency assistance to the North Jeolla’s disaster and safety budget for immediate use on additional air-conditioned facilities, emergency supplies, and added air-conditioned shuttle buses.

Acting on a report that mold had been found on some of the baked eggs that had been supplied to the festival, Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety recalled all 19,000 eggs on the festival grounds.

When multiple participants fell ill with heat-induced symptoms at the opening ceremony, the Jeonbuk Fire Service requested that the organizing committee terminate the event, but the committee pushed on with the ceremony.

“There was concern that if we were to suddenly halt the event, there would be unrest among participants,” explained Choi Chang-haeng, the secretary general of the organizing committee, at a briefing on Thursday. “We judged at the time that terminating the event would not have contributed to participants’ safety.”

By Oh Se-jin, staff reporter; Shin Min-jung, staff reporter

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