Rest of the scouts to march on with the Jamboree

Singapore is the third country to withdraw from the Jamboree. The British and American scouts that made the decision to pull out earlier accounts for 14 percent of the Jamboree participants at Saemangeum.

British scouts packed to leave the camping grounds at Saemangeum in North Jeolla on Saturday. [YONHAP]

After the talks, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo announced that scouts from other countries have decided to stay and continue with the Jamboree at Saemangeum in North Jeolla.

The countries that have decided to stay include Argentina, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and Belgium. Earlier reports mentioned that Belgium was mulling over the possibility of pulling out, but according to the organizing committee, they have now decided to stay.

Additionally, the following countries have also confirmed that they will remain at the Jamboree until its end on Aug. 12: Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, and Germany.

However, Singapore is the latest country that has decided to extract its scouts from the Jamboree camping grounds at Saemangeum. The British started to pull out its scouts on Saturday and made its decision on Friday, while the Americans made the same decision the following day.

The British scouts account for the most among the 43,000 scouts attending the Jamboree, with 4,600 participants, while the Americans trail behind with 1,500 scouts. Together, they make up 14 percent of the total number of scouts at the Jamboree.

"Each country's representatives, after holding a meeting, have decided to continue with the Jamboree," Prime MInister Han said on Saturday at a press briefing. "The [Korean] government is advising various programs to be held at other places, away from Saemangeum, considering the heatwave."

He added that the Korean government will continue to provide full support.

The Korean Prime Minister also stated that there have been significant improvements in the facilities, including showers. "The participants said they were seeing the improvements," Han said. "To maintain the cleanliness of the shower and other facilities, the government has started to deploy more than 700 service personnel."

He further mentioned that the Land Ministry has stationed an additional 104 air-conditioned buses, while the Korean military has sent 64 canopies. Additionally, 60 more medical staff consisting of 28 doctors, 18 nurses, and 13 emergency respondents have been added.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo at a press briefing on the World Scout Jamboree at Saemangeum, North Jeolla, on Saturday. [YONHAP]

According to the president's office on Saturday, President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has been on vacation since Wednesday, instructed Prime Minister Han to request help from other local governments, including Seoul, Busan, and even Pyeongchang in Gangwon, to expand tourism programs for the scouts.

Yoon requested that the program be changed so that the scouts from across the world would be able to see Korea's industry, culture, history, and its nature.

Representatives from each country participating in the troubled 25th World Scout Jamboree held a meeting whether to halt, curtail or proceed with the event after the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) issued a statement calling for "alternative options."

The meeting, which began at 9 a.m., came hours after the WOSM said it asked the Korean Scouting Organization, which is hosting the Jamboree, to "consider alternative options to end the event earlier than scheduled and support the participants until they depart for their home countries."

The central government has taken over the operation as the organizing committee and the local government had been overwhelmed with the crisis, including the sharp rise of patients suffering from the hostile environment, such as the scorching heat and the puddles created by the lack of a drainage system, as well as poor food supply, which included fungus-covered eggs.

Covid-19 infections have also become a major concern, as the number of infected people has now reached 70, the majority of whom (65) are participants from abroad.

The organizing committee made it clear that there would be no refund nor any financial aid for scouts who would spend the rest of the Jamboree duration outside of the camping grounds.

"Unless the Jamboree is canceled on a national [crisis] level, such as the spread of Covid-19, there would be no refund, and this decision was accepted by the WOSM," said Choi Chang-haeng, the organizing committee's secretary-general. "However, the Korean government will provide separate conveniences to the organizing committee on a humanitarian level."

BY LEE HO-JEONG, LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]