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Reuters

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South Korea is ploughing ahead with the World Scout Jamboree, rejecting a call by the world scouting body to cut the event short as a punishing heatwave caused thousands of British and US scouts to begin leaving the coastal campsite Saturday.
Hundreds of participants have been treated for heat-related ailments since the jamboree began on Wednesday at the coastal site in Buan as South Korea grapples with one of its hottest summers in years.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said during a news conference that South Korea is determined to continue the event as planned through to August 12. He promised additional safety measures including more medical staff, air-conditioned vehicles and structures that provide shade.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol promised an “unlimited supply” of air-conditioned buses and refrigerator trucks to provide chilled water.
Around 700 additional workers will be deployed to help maintain bathrooms and showers, which some participants have described as filthy or unkempt. There also will be more cultural activities involving travel to other regions so scouts aren’t entirely stuck at a venue with heat problems, officials said
Temperatures have hit 34 degrees Celsius (93 Fahrenheit) in Saemangeum, near the city of Buan on South Korea’s west coast, where about 43,000 people had joined the jamboree by Saturday – mostly scouts aged 14-18.
South Korea scrambles to save 40,000 scouts from brutal heatwave: ‘real chaos’
The UK Scout Association announced it was pulling out more than 4,000 British scouts and moving them to hotels. Hundreds of US scouts also were expected to depart the site over the weekend and relocate to a US military base near the capital, Seoul. An email from the US contingent said leaving was necessary because of the extreme weather and resulting conditions.
The US Embassy did not immediately respond to questions about accommodation for the scouts at Camp Humphreys. But the South Korean organising committee confirmed the US was among the national contingents intending to leave, also naming Singapore.
Some scouts and family members expressed disappointment. Raymond Wong, a San Francisco Bay Area engineer whose sons are attending, said participants should be able to choose if they leave.
“They are doing just fine and having a lot of fun. They are very upset about the news,” Wong said of his sons, ages 14 and 16.
Some countries, including the Philippines and Argentina, have said they would remain at the campsite despite challenges from extreme weather.


The World Organisation of the Scout Movement previously asked South Korean organisers to consider ending the event early. Organisers need to provide assurances there will be additional resources going forward to address issues caused by the heatwave, the organisation said in a statement.
“We continue to call on the host and the Korean government to honour their commitments to mobilise additional financial and human resources, and to make the health and safety of the participants their top priority,” the statement said.

The government said 138 jamboree participants received treatment for heat-related illnesses on Thursday. At least 108 participants were treated for similar ailments following Wednesday’s opening ceremony.
Choi Chang-haeng, secretary general of the jamboree’s organising committee, insisted the event is safe enough to continue. He linked the large number of patients on Wednesday to a K-pop performance during the opening ceremony, which he said left many teens “exhausted after actively releasing their energy”.
About 158 countries were taking part in the gathering, according to officials.
The jamboree is expected to run until August 12.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse


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South Korea

South Korea ploughs ahead with World Scout Jamboree as US, UK and Singapore leave amid heatwave, sickness

British scout members gather to leave the World Scout Jamboree campsite in Buan on Saturday. Photo: Yonhap via AP

Attendees of the World Scout Jamboree beat the heat under a vine tunnel at a campsite in Buan, South Korea, on Friday. Photo: Yonhap via AP

Attendees of the World Scout Jamboree walk through a water mist to cool themselves off at a campsite in Buan. Photo: Yonhap via AP

From Singapore to India, Nepal and Myanmar, Asia must ‘adapt’ to heatwaves

A Kashmiri teenager jumps into a stream to beat the heat on the outskirts of Srinagar, India, on July 5. Photo: EPA-EFE

A villager tries to put out a forest fire in Kampar in Indonesia’s Riau province in 2019. Photo: AFP

People cooling off on a beach amid hot weather in Qingdao in China’s Shandong province on Tuesday last week. Photo: AFP

South Korea scrambles to protect 40,000 scouts from brutal heatwave: ‘this is real chaos’

Attendees of the World Scout Jamboree hold umbrellas to avoid sunshine at a scout camping site in Buan, South Korea, on Friday. Photo: Yonhap via AP

Attendees of the World Scout Jamboree cool off with water at a scout camping site in Buan, South Korea, on Friday. Photo: Yonhap via AP

A participant is carried on a stretcher at Jamboree Hospital during the World Scout Jamboree in Buan, South Korea, on Friday. Photo: Reuters

A participant drinks water at a water supply zone of the camping site for the 25th World Scout Jamboree in Buan, South Korea, on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Attendees take shelter from the strong sunlight at the camping site for the World Scout Jamboree in Buan, South Korea, on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Tents are pitched at a scout camping site during the World Scout Jamboree in Buan, South Korea, on Friday. Photo: Yonhap via AP

Asia set for supercharged heat as El Nino looms after ‘hottest April’ ever

A couple use umbrellas to provide shade from the sun during a hot day in Kuala Lumpur last month. Photo: EPA-EFE

A couple use umbrellas to provide shade from the sun during a hot day in Kuala Lumpur last month. An 11-year-old boy died of heatstroke and dehydration in Malaysia amid high-temperature warnings in April across several districts. Photo: EPA-EFE

A woman shields herself from the sun on a hot day in Yangon last month. Temperatures in Myanmar climbed to around 45 degrees Celsius in April. Photo: Xinhua

A man splashes water on his face last month to cool off in Dhaka. There were reports of roads melting in the Bangladeshi capital because of the intense heat. Photo: EPA-EFE

Traffic moves through a heat haze above a road in Ahmedabad last year. The city was India’s first to receive a heat action plan. Photo: Reuters

Children play in an inflatable pool beside a street in Manila last month amid the hot weather. Photo: Reuters

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Asia

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Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said South Korea is determined to continue the event as planned through August 12
Hundreds of participants have been treated for heat-related ailments since the event began on Wednesday


Despite hundreds of participants being treated for heat-related ailments since the event began on Wednesday, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said South Korea is determined to continue the event as planned through August 12.


South Korea ploughs ahead with World Scout Jamboree as US, UK and Singapore leave amid heatwave, sickness

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said South Korea is determined to continue the event as planned through August 12 Hundreds of participants have been treated for heat-related ailments since the event began on Wednesday

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said South Korea is determined to continue the event as planned through August 12

Hundreds of participants have been treated for heat-related ailments since the event began on Wednesday