Civil servants eschew overseas training after Jamboree fiasco

The 2023 World Scout Jamboree campsite in Saemangeum, North Jeolla, was turned into a waterlogged morass after Typhoon Khanun struck the area on Aug. 11. [YONHAP]

Not a single civil servant in Okcheon County, North Chungcheong, signed up for overseas training sessions amid public criticism over the misuse of such programs in preparation for the 2023 World Scout Jamboree.

According to the Okcheon County's government, no one volunteered for overseas program this year, despite its plan to send 20 public servants abroad.

This marks the first time the county office has not seen any applicant since initiating the program in 2012.

In some years, the program was so popular that there was two-to-one competition for spots.

The so-called overseas training programs were adopted to encourage public officials to widen their perspectives and implement successful cases from different countries.

According to a spokesperson from the county office, “stricter qualifications and requirements" could have discouraged employees from volunteering.

The younger generation’s willingness to travel freely with their own money could be another reason, the spokesperson added.

The county office of Okcheon subsidizes up to 3 million won ($2,200) for each individual, allowing participants to pay just 20 percent of the total cost.

The participants in return are mandated to submit a report including policy proposals and give a presentation after coming from the overseas trip.

Qualifications have grown stricter, too, due to public skepticism regarding the program.

Applicants are required to submit their plans regarding their stay in the foreign country. Successful candidates will be selected based on multiple factors, including their work experience and whether their plans conform with the purpose of the program.

Yeongdong County in North Chungcheong also saw far fewer applicants than the program’s quota this year.

The county office initially planned to send 60 employees in 10 different teams, but ultimately received only 54 applications after two rounds of notices.

The first round opened in February and another one in June due to a low number of applications.

“The program is not as popular as before, despite increasing the subsidy from two million won to three million won,” a spokesperson from the Yeongdong county office said.

The public has been criticizing overseas training for public officials because many of them misused the opportunity to engage in mere sightseeing.

The Gangwon State Office of Education discovered during a state audit in 2020 that 82 percent of 108 written reports they received regarding the training sessions were misleading and inappropriate.

Public officials of Jeonju in North Jeolla were also denounced by its metropolitan council for spending some 165 million won in 2018 to visit major tourist spots in the U.S., ostensibly to study ways to promote street businesses in their city.

Overseas business trips to prepare for the World Scout Jamboree differed little in this regard.

Records revealed public officials went on business trips abroad 99 times over the past eight years to prepare for the World Scout Jamboree.

However, public servants visited irrelevant tourist destinations in Switzerland and Italy as case studies for the event, despite neither country having hosted a Jamboree.

Records also revealed employees of Buan County, North Jeolla, where the Jamboree initially took place, visited Shanghai for a cruise tour in 2019.

Parts of the final reports they submitted were also plagiarized from a travel article.

BY CHOI JONG-KWON, CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]