World Scout Jamboree: Poor Facilities, Food Also Force Countries To Pull Out

Countries are pulling out their teams in the World Scout Jamboree event in South Korea as hundreds of participants were treated for heat-related incidents.

(Photo : Pexels/aboodi vesakaran)

The United Kingdom and the United States announced that their participants will leave the international event.

The British group, which is the largest in attendance with 4,500 participants, will be moving to a hotel in Seoul.

Coaches carrying British youngsters have arrived in Seoul, where they will spend the next week in hotels.

The UK Scout Association said the young people and adult volunteers have begun "settling into their accommodation," and the Jamboree experience will continue in the city before returning to the UK on August 13.

According to an email shared with Reuters, the US contingent will be moved to US Army Garrison Humphreys near the jamboree site on Sunday.

Singapore also made the decision to pull out their team.

Poor facility and food

Aside from the extreme heat, participants are complaining about the poor facilities and food at the event.

According to the BBC, some scouts are sleeping five in a room, while up to 250 people are sleeping in the ballroom of a Seoul hotel due to a lack of adequate accommodation.

Some scouts from the UK called the camping toilets a "health risk" and claimed that the children's food requirements were not being satisfied.

A woman who spoke to The Guardian said her 16-year-old slept on the floor of a "cramped" hotel near Seoul airport with three other participants.

"The scout motto is 'be prepared', but the South Korean government wasn't," she said. "I know the heat is not the government's fault, but perhaps there could have been some planning for the heat ... I think they were preparing for rains, not a heatwave."

At least 43,000 young Scouts from 158 nations attend the event, which is considered the world's largest youth camp.

The World Organization of the Scout Movement has asked the South Korean organizers to consider closing the event earlier than planned.

However, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said that after consulting with other countries, his administration and the Korea Scout Association decided to continue the jamboree event.

The Philippines and Argentina said they would remain at the campsite.

"We are seeing around the site some improvements," said Marina Rustan, president of the Argentina Scout Association. "We had the word of the leadership of the government that things will be improved."

Government damage control

In an effort to defuse the situation, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered a tour program exhibiting Korean culture and nature be made available to all scouts in Seoul and other cities.

The performance, which is part of the event's cultural exchange day, has been moved from August 6 to August 11.

The concert's venue and date had to be altered due to the continuous heat wave, which was producing heat-related health issues and jeopardizing safety.

The performance will now take place on the same day as the closing ceremony of the event, and two alternative venues are being examined.