Jamboree at Saemangeum becomes Korea's worst nightmare

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Jamboree at Saemangeum becomes Korea's worst nightmare

Published: 05 Aug. 2023, 13:16 Updated: 08 Aug. 2023, 12:36

Some of the scouts lying on the sick bed at the temporary hospital set up at the Saemangeum camping ground in Buan County North Jeolla on Thursday. [YONHAP]

The World Scout Jamboree, which was meant to be a major global celebration and a boost for Korea's bid for the World Expo in Busan, is facing significant challenges, with countries starting to withdraw their scouts from the event.

It all began with Britain pulling out, and as of Saturday, two countries have already decided to withdraw, with more expected to follow suit.

The main reason for the withdrawals is the health and safety concerns faced by the scouts, particularly those between the ages of 14 and 17. Many of them have fallen ill due to various factors, including the scorching heat with temperatures remaining close to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

The hostile environment has led to an accumulated number of minimum 2,500 scouts falling sick.

The number of affected individuals has been rapidly increasing each day. On Wednesday, there were 400 patients, and by Thursday, the official opening day of the Jamboree, that number had doubled to over 900. On Friday, it spiked even further to over 1,400.

The most common health issues faced by the scouts include bug bites, followed by skin rashes and heat exhaustion. Moreover, adding to the complications, there has been a Covid-19 outbreak since Thursday, further escalating the concerns.

The situation at the World Scout Jamboree is currently in shambles, and it is uncertain how many more countries may decide to withdraw their scouts in light of the deteriorating conditions and health risks.

British scouts exits the camping grounds of the World Scout Jamboree at Saemangeum in North Jeolla on Saturday. [YONHAP]

Pulling out

Britain was the first to officially announced the withdrawal of scouts from the Jamboree on Friday.

The country has the largest number of scouts attending the Jamboree at roughly 4,500, which is nearly 10 percent of the total number of scouts participating.

"We understand that a decision has been taken by Scouts UK to relocate British scouts from the World Scout Jamboree at Saemangeum to Seoul," a spokesperson from the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told the Korea JoongAng Daily on Friday evening.

The spokesperson added that the British Embassy in Korea "remains in close contact with Scouts UK and will continue to provide support where required."

The delegation's decision was confirmed by the World Organization of the Scout Movement in a statement issued Friday night.

"We have been informed that the Contingent from the United Kingdom has decided to depart from the Jamboree campsite early, allowing Scouts to continue their Jamboree experience in Seoul until they are scheduled to travel home," the organization said.

The British Scout delegation is scheduled to depart from Korea on August 13.

Hours later, the United States announced they were pulling out as well.

The US Contingent said they have decided to move to U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Sunday and stay there until Aug. 11, after taking part in Jamboree programs on Saturday.

"The US Contingent to the World Scout Jamboree has made the difficult decision that we will be departing the 25th World Scout Jamboree site early because of ongoing extreme weather and resulting conditions at the jamboree site," read an email sent to parents by the US Contingent media team, according to Reuters.

A parent whose child is part the American team confirmed to the Korea JoongAng Daily that the group would be departing from the campsite on Sunday.

Buses lined up to withdraw scouts from the camp site at Saemangeum, North Jeolla, on Saturday. [YONHAP]

Problem-plagued Jamboree

Some parents from overseas in hearing the news of the situation, which is likened to a refugee camp, expressed their concerns over the safety of their children.

Chang Kim, who lives in California, told the Korea JoongAng Daily in an email that his 15-year-old daughter, who joined the Jamboree as part of the U.S. scouts, fainted due to the heat.

"According to the adult leader, it took 45 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. This is unbelievable when everyone there knew the temperature was going to be an issue," Kim said.

Kim said his daughter was better now that she's been in the air-conditioned makeshift hospital, but was facing a new problem: food.

"I heard that because of the Korean president attending the opening [ceremony], all the Korean staff were busy catering to him and his wife so they couldn't help the scouts and adult leaders from other countries," he added.

"Most of the scouts didn't get a chance to eat that night."

At the hospital, Kim said his daughter was being offered bread. Only after he and his wife begged doctors to provide her with some food was she offered cup noodles.

The organizing committee was not immediately available for comment.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo with scouts from the World Scout Jamboree at Saemangeum, North Jeolla, on Saturdsay. The central government stepped in to salvage the sinking event. [YONHAP]

All hands on deck

The World Scout Jamboree, held in Saemangeum since Wednesday and scheduled to continue until Aug. 12, is the biggest gathering since its inception, with more than 43,000 scouts from 159 countries gathered at the reclaimed land in North Jeolla.

However, as the number of people falling ill due to the scorching sun, bug bites, and other ailments increased, the Jamboree became an international issue, with the organizing committee and the local government scrambling to address the situation. In response, the Korean central government stepped in for emergency damage control.

Under the direct orders of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who started his seven-day vacation on the day of the Jamboree's opening ceremony on Wednesday, the government provided an "unlimited" supply of air-conditioned buses and refrigerator trucks to the camping ground at Saemangeum. The government allocated 6.9 billion won ($5.3 million) in reserve funds for necessary assistance.

Some 130 air-conditioned buses and 50 portable toilets arrived on Friday.

Additionally, the number of people in charge of cleaning and maintaining the toilets and shower rooms were increased to minimum 700, 10 folds of 70 earlier. The government also dispatched bug exterminators to address the insect problem.

The government used the additional budget to supply each person with five bottles of frozen water, cooling facial masks, sunscreens, ice packs, and sodium pills.

More than 40 doctors were sent to the camping site, and the operating hours of the five clinics set up at Saemangeum were extended two hours until midnight.

The Foreign Ministry also joined the crisis management efforts on Friday. They set up an emergency task force to relay concerns raised by foreign embassies regarding the safety and well-being of their nationals, including issues related to rations, sanitation, and illnesses, to the organizing committee.

There were reports that foreign embassies struggled to reach the organizing committee, which was overwhelmed with managing the crisis.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo offered additional assurances at a press conference held at the Jamboree on Friday. He stated,

"The central government will take full responsibility for the safety management and smooth operation of the event until the last participants leave Saemangeum.

With the Ministry of Interior and Safety in the center, all central government departments, including the Ministry of Defense, will work with other local governments to support the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the North Jeolla government and communicate with the World Organization of the Scout Movement."

As part of the government's promise, Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min set up camp on the site and will be stationed there for six days to manage the overall operation. North Jeolla Governor Kim Kwan-young, who has been staying at the camp since Thursday, will remain on the campground until the last day.

Additional ambulance on Thursday were called in in case of an emergency as the number of people suffering from heat exhaution and bug bites have been surging. [YONHAP]

Private companies lending a hand

Several major Korean companies also stepped in to help the Jamboree in its crisis.

Samsung was one of the big companies that provided support by offering drinks through the Korean Red Cross. They sent 200,000 sports drinks and vitamin drinks.

Daiso, in collaboration with the Korea International Trade Association, sent "cool scarfs" to help the scouts cope with the heat.

Additionally, Our Home, a company specializing in food and restaurants, provided quality food products, including fruits, to assist during the event.

GS25, a convenient store company, announced on Friday that they would supply 40,000 water bottles for free every day. They also sent around 50 employees from their headquarters to aid the organizers.

Previously, the convenient store had been the exclusive brand on the campgrounds, but it faced criticism for overpricing its products, including a cup of ice.

The image of the World Scout Jamboree at Saemangeum posted on the organizing comittee's Website. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Underprepared

As the Jamboree tarnished Korea's international reputation, questions have been raised as to how the World Scout Jamboree has reached this point of being an international calamity despite spending nearly 100 billion won.

Especially one of the controversies has been the six years the committee had to prepare since it won the bid to host the biggest scout event in 2017 under the previous government.

The budget that has gone into the project even doubled to 93.8 billion won than the initial estimates of 49.1 billion won.

The organizing committee's website claims that the 8.84 square-meter-wide camping site will be the spot where "scouts from all over the world" will freely spread their dreams.

And yet, the organizing committee is currently accused of failing to be fully prepared.

One of the biggest blame is the camping site.

The site at the reclaimed land, Saemangeum, is a wide-open area without a single tree.

While the organizing committee emphasized on the 1,722 large artificial shades installed across the Saemangeum camping grounds and 57 tunnels spraying mists, it was not enough to keep the scouts from being exhausted under the sweltering heat and humid air.

But the situation has been much worse as the heavy downpour that continued the previous week before the event officially kicked off, made the ground that was initially a land that reclaimed on a mudflat became muddy.

The drainage system that failed to be completed before the official kickoff on Thursday made matters worse with insects such as mosquitoes making it more unbearable.

For months, locals have been warning about the camping site and the potential safety risk, especially even in May and June, the camping grounds were flooded under heavy rain multiple times.

Especially the grounds used for the scouts camping were reclaimed for agricultural purposes, and the drainage system is designed to handle 70 to 80 millimeters of rain.

If more rain pours, the area is flooded, which is what had happened.

The North Jeolla a week before the scouts arrived for the Jamboree had heavy rainfall with a precipitation exceeding 500 millimeters falling in the area.

North Jeolla government in June said it will complete the drainage system by the end of the month and prepare for any flooding.

The same was echoed by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the organizing committee.

The issue was raised even last year in October during the National Assembly's annual government audit hearing.

DP Rep. Lee Won-taeg on Oct. 26 warned the Gender Equality and Family Minister Kim Hyun-sook to double-check everything, including the facilities at the campground.

"Only 37 percent of the construction has been completed as of August [2022]," the DP lawmaker said. "And soon it will be winter, and spring comes in March," hinting at the limited time to complete the necessary facilities."The world, including teenagers around the world, will be looking at this event, and if not prepared, it could face serious adversities."

Choi Chang-haeng, secretary general of the World Scout Jamboree organizing committee, at a press briefing on Thursday. [YONHAP]

In denial

Even when the issue had shown signs of trouble, the committee organizers have tried to downplay the seriousness of the situation, including its secretary general Choi Chang-haeng, who dismissed the illness that the scouts were going through as "mild" on Wednesday.

"All were mild symptoms, and there were no patients with serious illness," said Choi on Wednesday.

Even local politicians joined in, with a North Jeolla councilman Yeom Young-sun claiming Korean teenagers complain too much because they were pampered when growing up.

"In my view, it is a situation where one can fully endure," Yeom commented on North Jeolla Governor's Kim Kwan-young's Facebook. "The Jamboree is, most of all, not a vacation," Yeom wrote. "It is a program that pays for experiencing the overcoming of hardship."

He also noted that while most of the teenagers from overseas have slightly burned faces due to the heat, their faces are lit up.

Yeom claimed that at night while humid, the temperature drops with wind blowing.

"There are the latest toilets and air-conditioned facilities," Yeom claimed.

However, in just five hours later, he deleted the post, and on Friday, he posted an apology saying he was sorry for hurting the feelings of the scouts and their parents.

A Hanyang University professor of tourism Lee Hoon said the most important thing at this point is to focus on safety.

"The central and local government must work together to go through the Jamboree safely," Lee said. "It would be difficult to win another mega international event if we fail to overcome the crisis, as there has been a negative image of Korea's safety among foreign teenagers because of the Itaewon tragedy."

The professor was referring to the incident that happened last year during a Halloween weekend when a huge crowd squeezed into a narrow back alley in Itaewon, resulting in the death of 159 people, including 26 foreigners.

"There could be serious damages as the heat wave is forecast to continue," said Oh Ik-keun, professor emeritus in tourism at Keimyung University.

BY LEE HO-JEONG, LEE SUNG-EUN, MICHAEL LEE AND SARAH KIM [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]