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Punishment needed for the Jamboree fiasco

Published: 06 Aug. 2023, 20:22

The 2023 World Scout Jamboree being held in Saemangeum, North Jeolla has become an international shame. Fifteen hundred members of the U.S. Scout contingent left the event for a U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi. The British Scout members headed to Seoul to sleep at hotels. The fiasco resulted from the scorching heat wave over the reclaimed land and the organizer’s immature operation of the international event, as seen in the critical lack — and utterly poor management — of restrooms, dining and accommodation. The organizers cannot excuse itself no matter what, given the six years of time to prepare for the international event for the young scouts aged between 14 and 17.

It was in 2012 when the North Jeolla governor sent the Korea Scout Association (KSA) an application to host the event based on the successful staging in August 1982 of the Asia-Pacific Scout Jamboree in Deogyusan National Park in the province. We wonder why the organizer chose the flat Saemangeum area with no trees to avoid the sizzling heat wave during the day. The KSA in 2015 selected the massive reclaimed land as the venue for the World Scout Jamboree under the leadership of the minister of oceans and fisheries in the Park Geun-hye administration. In August 2017 during the Moon Jae-in administration, the World Organization of the Scout Movement chose the reclaimed area as the venue for the 2023 Jamboree.

But we wonder if the parties involved were only engrossed with securing the budget for infrastructure construction in the reclaimed area instead of thoroughly preparing for a successful staging of the event. As it turned out, the first leg of the 43.6-kilometer-long (27-mile-long) South-to-North main road was built last year followed by the construction of the second leg last month. The total expense for the main road, including the East-to-West main road, reaches 1.4 trillion won ($1.07 billion). The dispute over the economic feasibility of the planned construction of a new airport in Saemangeum also continues. The Moon administration skipped the mandatory preliminary feasibility study for 23 projects of the airport construction. The construction has not started yet, but a chronic deficit is inevitable for the new airport. Officials from the central and local governments also went on a trip overseas frequently to allegedly help host the event.

After the government swiftly responded to the crisis in Saemangeum, the dull environment has changed. And yet, we wonder why the co-chairpersons on the ministerial level did nothing to prevent the mishap. Anyone responsible for the immature preparation for the Scout Jamboree should be punished. The Board of Audit and Inspection must find out what really went wrong from the start.