Buan County plans overseas trip despite bungling of Jamboree

A total of 14 people, including all 10 of Buan County’s council members, as well as public employees from the council office, are scheduled for a four-day cruise trip to Singapore and Malaysia. The council members are members of the Democratic Party.

British scouts leave the Saemangeum campsite of the World Scout Jamboree on Sunday. They were the first contingent to evacuate the campsite, citing health risks not only from the heat but also due to poor sanitation. Other countries were later forced to leave due to an advancing typhoon. [YONHAP]

Civil servants and elected local government council members in North Jeolla are facing criticism over their disastrous preparation and management of the World Scout Jamboree.

While the central government stepped in to manage the emergency crisis, hoping to salvage what little global reputation remains after mishandling the world’s largest youth event at Saemangeum, officials and council members in Buan County, North Jeolla, have planned another overseas trip next month.

A total of 14 people, including all 10 of Buan County’s council members and civil servants from the council office, are scheduled to go on a four-day cruise trip to Singapore and Malaysia.

All of the council members are members of the Democratic Party.

The total cost of the trip, including airfare, is 40 million won per person, fully covered by the county’s taxes.

The Buan County council office stated that the purpose of the trip is to benchmark major tourist destinations, including Singapore's Marina Bay, and to learn about cruise tourism.

The tour plan was decided on Aug. 3, just a day after the official opening of the World Scout Jamboree, by which point over 200 participants had already been treated for heat exhaustion.

It was previously revealed that the Saemangeum-related governments and agencies had gone on 99 trips abroad in the past eight years, supposedly to prepare for hosting the 25th World Scout Jamboree on the reclaimed mudflat.

However, these trips were considered questionable, as many of the places visited by local government employees, including North Jeolla and Buan County, were famous tourist destinations with little connection to the scouting event or outdoor activities, including a wine-tasting festival in France.

Some of the countries visited had never even hosted the World Scout Jamboree.

In 2019, 13 officials from Buan County went on a seven-day cruise tour in China, a country that doesn't even have scouts.

Officials from the North Jeolla provincial government took the most overseas trips with 55, followed by Buan County Office with 25, the Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency with 12, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family with five, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs with two.

Saemangeum won the bid to host the Jamboree, the world's largest youth camp held every four years, at the 41st World Scout Conference in Azerbaijan on August 16, 2017.

Questions have arisen regarding what the officials actually learned from their trips.

In one report filed after officials from the Buan County government went on a 12-day trip to six European countries, including Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Germany, in July 2017, the writer expressed gratitude for a wonderful trip.

"Even though our dream-like 12-day trip has come to an end, the unforgettable memories are still vivid," the writer wrote in the report. “I thank you for the opportunity to go on an overseas backpacking trip with my team."

BY KIM JUN-HEE, LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]