80 Korean scouts to leave Jamboree over alleged sex crime

The leader of the North Jeolla Province Scout association speaks at the press conference Sunday. (Yonhap)

A group of 80 South Korean scouts and leaders said Sunday they were leaving the 2023 Saemangeum World Scout Jamboree, claiming proper measures were not taken to protect teens after a man had walked into the women's showers.

North Jeolla Province Scout Association with 80 participants at the jamboree, including 72 teenagers, announced that they would withdraw from the camp Sunday, after "a Thai scout leader came into the women's shower room on Wednesday."

He said there were about 100 witnesses to what happened.

The Thai scout leader was given "a simple warning" by the Jamboree Committee, the Korean scout official said, adding that his association had reported the case to the local police.

"The seriousness of the case was recognized (by the police) and it was transferred to the Jeonbuk Police Agency's Women and Youth Investigation Unit," he said at a press conference at the Jamboree press center on the campsite.

The leader criticized the Jamboree Committee, claiming that it had taken no action to protect the victims nor separate them from the accused scout leader.

"The scouts said they're scared and do not want to remain on the Jamboree campsite," the official said.

By Lee Jung-youn(jy@heraldcorp.com)