Jamboree organizers face scrutiny for ignoring warnings

Home > National > Social Affairs

Jamboree organizers face scrutiny for ignoring warnings

Published: 10 Aug. 2023, 15:55

Workers dismantle tents and facilities at the campsite of the 25th World Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum, a reclaimed flatland in Buan County, North Jeolla, on Wednesday. Officials at all levels of the local and central government are facing criticism for failing to heed warnings about the challenges of holding a large-scale event in the area. [YONHAP]

Calls are mounting for organizers of the 25th World Scout Jamboree to face investigation over their failure to heed warnings about the possibility of extreme heat that overwhelmed hundreds of participants at the event’s campsite in southern Korea.

Old predictions about the particular dangers of holding the event at Saemangeum, a treeless reclaimed flatland in Buan County, North Jeolla, have received renewed attention in recent days.

In a report on the viability of Saemangeum as a Jamboree venue that was compiled by Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) in 2016, the North Jeolla provincial government was advised that daytime temperatures in the area could rise as high as 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in August, and that on-site drainage needed to be improved to prevent accumulation of water that could serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects.

The report also noted that thousands of participants fell ill with heat exhaustion in similar conditions at the 2015 World Scout Jamboree that took place at Kirarahama beach in Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture — also the result of a land reclamation project — and urged officials undertake action at Saemangeum to avert a similar situation.

In response to the report, the North Jeolla provincial government promised in Korea’s 2017 winning bid to host the Jamboree that they would create a “lush forest” at the Saemangeum site to provide shade and improve drainage at the site.

But the site remained a sunbaked field pockmarked with deep puddles left behind by monsoon showers up until the Jamboree officially began on Aug. 1, when the mercury in Buan County soared over 34 degrees Celsius.

Although North Jeolla officials reportedly attempted to create a forest to provide shade at Saemangeum in the years prior to the event, the cottonwood poplars they planted failed to grow due to the high soil salinity of the reclaimed land.

Still, they pressed on with holding the event at the site, hoping to attract investment for the controversial land reclamation project, which had already destroyed much of a tidal flatland that once served as a crucial habitat for migratory birds.

The North Jeolla provincial government is not the only official agency that is likely to face recriminations for its failure to prepare for foreseen difficulties of holding the Jamboree at Saemangeum.

Scrutiny will likely fall heavily on the role of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in organizing the Jamboree, in part due to its current chief’s earlier statements claiming that the Saemangeum site would be ready to host the event by August.

At a parliamentary hearing in October last year, Gender Equality Minister Kim Hyun-sook told lawmakers skeptical about the organizers’ preparedness that the ministry had “made all contingency plans” for the Jamboree to proceed “even in the event of extreme heat or a typhoon” — both of which came true.

In response to her remarks, liberal Democratic Party (DP) lawmaker Lee Won-taeg warned Kim that “history will judge you.”

Given the debacle surrounding conditions at the heat-stricken Jamboree campsite and the hurried evacuation necessitated by Typhoon Khanun, a high-ranking government official with close ties to the conservative People Power Party told the JoongAng Ilbo in a phone interview on Tuesday that it was likely that Kim and the ministry under her purview would face a probe after the Jamboree concluded.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Kim’s performance as minister “had significantly failed to meet expectations,” raising the specter of her dismissal or resignation after the Jamboree’s conclusion.

Lower down the totem pole, civil servants and elected local government council members in Buan County were forced to cancel their upcoming cruise through Southeast Asia after facing an outpouring of criticism for deciding to embark on the trip just as the consequences of poor planning for the Jambore came to light.

A total of 14 people, including all 10 of Buan County’s elected council members and civil servants from the council office, were originally scheduled to go on a four-day cruise through Singapore and Malaysia.

The group’s itinerary was approved on Aug. 3 — a day after the Jamboree’s official opening ceremony, by which point over 200 participants had already reported symptoms of heat exhaustion.

All of the council members are from the DP.

The cost of the trip per person including airfare was 40 million won ($30,000) and was due to come out of the county’s coffers.

After knowledge of the upcoming trip spread, the council office website was flooded with angry comments calling the officials “tax thieves” and “shameless.”

After initially claiming that the purpose of the trip was to study major cruise destinations, including Singapore’s Marina Bay, in order to plan the development of a cruise terminal in Buan County, the council office backtracked and cancelled the trip at an emergency meeting on Thursday.

In an earlier report, the JoongAng Ilbo uncovered 99 trips abroad over the past eight years by local governments and agencies involved in the Saemangeum project, purportedly for Jamboree planning purposes.

However, many of the places visited by officials from North Jeolla and Buan County were tourist destinations with little apparent connection to the Jamboree or outdoor scouting activities, such as a wine-tasting festival in France.

Some of the countries they visited, such as Italy and Switzerland, had never hosted a World Scout Jamboree.

In 2019, 13 officials from Buan County went on a seven-day cruise in China, a country that has no national scouting association.

Officials from the North Jeolla provincial government undertook the most overseas trips, going on a total of 55 tours abroad.

Buan County Office followed with 25 trips, the Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency with 12, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family with five, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs with two.

Potential probes into Jamboree management and preparation may hone in on what the officials actually learned from their trips.

After Buan County officials in July 2017 went on a 12-day tour of six European countries, including Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Germany, the author of one of the post-trip reports expressed gratitude for having been able to go on a “dream-like” journey and create “unforgettable memories.”

BY MICHAEL LEE, LEE HO-JEONG [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]