Global scouts gathering in South Korea evacuated ahead of typhoon

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Tens of thousands of young people are being evacuated from the site of a global gathering of scouts in South Korea after soaring temperatures and the threat of an inbound typhoon derailed the movement’s set-piece event.

The exodus began on Monday after the British and US contingents pulled out of the World Scout Jamboree over the weekend, citing temperatures that soared above 35C this week and unsanitary conditions at the campsite in Saemangeum in the south of the country.

Korean media dubbed the jamboree, which was scheduled to run until Saturday, a “survival game” as about 40,000 scouts from 158 countries battled extreme heat, swarms of insects, poor sanitation, rotten food, insufficient medical support and waterlogged conditions due to earlier heavy rain at the site, which is built on reclaimed land.

“We are disappointed in the organisers and the organisation and we do feel let down,” said Matt Hyde, Scouts UK chief executive, who listed “severe” concerns including sanitation, heat relief measures and access to medical care behind the decision to relocate the group’s 4,500 participants and adult staff to Seoul.

The event’s collapse marks an embarrassing setback for the South Korean government, which has aggressively promoted the country as a world-class destination for top-tier global events.

Yoon Suk Yeol, the country’s conservative president, is championing South Korea’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo in the southern port city of Busan.

On Sunday, Pope Francis announced that World Youth Day, a global gathering organised by the Catholic Church that regularly attracts millions of young pilgrims, would be held in South Korea in 2027.

Government officials rushed to the jamboree campsite over the weekend offering water trucks, air-conditioned buses, cleaners and medics, while leading South Korean conglomerates including Samsung, Hyundai and LG stepped in with alternative activities to salvage the event.

Kim Sung-ho, a South Korean interior ministry official, told reporters on Monday the remaining attendees would be taken by bus to areas away from the projected path of Tropical Storm Khanun, which is expected to reach South Korea on Thursday.

A contingent of Korean scouts also left the event on Sunday in protest against the organisers’ handling of an episode in which a male Thai scout leader allegedly entered a female shower area.

Whereas participants at the last World Scout Jamboree in West Virginia in 2019 enjoyed activities including mountain biking, river rafting and zip lining, scouts evacuated from this year’s event have been offered tours of Samsung’s corporate museum and a Hyundai car factory.

A K-pop concert that had been due to be held at the campsite on Sunday has been postponed to Friday.

Most of the displaced scouts will be accommodated in Seoul and surrounding areas, including at government training centres and education facilities.

British scouts are staying in local hotels, while their US counterparts are bunking at Camp Humphreys, an army base that hosts US troops stationed in South Korea.