hankyoreh

Korean scouts carry their bags from the Saemangeum campsite in North Jeolla Province on Aug. 8 after a decision was made to pull out of the World Scout Jamboree camp there due to an incoming typhoon. (Yonhap)

“I was really looking forward to visiting Korea. I was so happy when the decision was made early this year for us to attend the Jamboree in Korea, and it’s sad to end up leaving like this.”

Disappointment was all over the face of Elvin, a 14-year-old member of the Swedish scout contingent visiting South Korea.

With an innocent smile, another member of the Swedish contingent said, “It’s disappointing that we have to leave the campsite early, but I’m also interested to see a lot of things when we go to Seoul.”

There were many disappointed faces among the visiting overseas Scouts at the entrance to the Jamboree site’s delta zone on Wednesday morning.

All around, young people could be seen pushing and pulling carts while weighed down with backpacks bigger than they were.

Abhishek, a 24-year-old visitor from India, said, “I’ve heard we’re relocating somewhere else because of the typhoon. During the first five days, there were issues with the restrooms and food, but the other three days were great.”

Attendees from South Korea also expressed deep disappointment.

Hundreds of buses wait to transport around 37,000 scouts visiting Korea from 156 countries Aug. 8 after a decision was made to pull out of the World Scout Jamboree campsite in Saemangeum due to an incoming typhoon. (Yonhap)

Sixteen-year-old Kim Min-jun explained that he was being relocated to a dormitory at Kongju National University in South Chungcheong Province.

“Over the last week in Saemangeum, I’ve only been able to take part in one campsite program, so that’s been disappointing,” he said.

“I had hoped to meet longer with friends from overseas, but now I’m spending the rest of the time with Korean friends,” he added.

Kim Su-yong was leading a group of students from South Jeolla Province as secretary-general of the Suncheon Youth Training Center.

“The students aren’t feeling very happy because they’re being unilaterally relocated without them asking for the scouts’ opinions,” he explained.

“They paid millions of won each to attend, and they weren’t able to complete the originally promised camping activities, interactions with overseas students, or activity programs,” he added. “I’m worried that is going to make the young people more distrustful of adults.”

A line of charter buses started forming at the campground entrance early in the morning to take attendees to new locations. The buses bore license plates from various regions besides North Jeolla, including Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Ulsan, and South Chungcheong.

Na Myeong-gwan, the operator of a local charter bus company, explained, “Yesterday, the jamboree organizing committee requested assistance from charter bus companies nationwide.”

“I heard they would be needing around 1,000, but with over 60,000 charter buses around the country, I don’t think it would have been too much of an issue.”

Event staff break down tents at the World Scout Jamboree campsite in Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province, on Aug. 8 after a decision was made to pull out of the World Scout Jamboree campsite in Saemangeum due to an incoming typhoon. (Kim Jung-hyo/The Hankyoreh)

Ahead of the 10 am departure start time announced by the organizing committee the day before, a crowd gathered at a rest area around a kilometer from the campground. Reporters there to cover the withdrawal of the attending scouts were joined by local residents disappointed over the event’s premature end.

The area in question offered a full view of the campsite. From a distance, it could be seen that the withdrawal preparations were already complete, including the removal of individual tents starting at around 9 am.

In the campground’s west parking facilities stood hundreds of charter buses marshaled from around the country. Dozens of buses were also waiting to go inside at the campground entrance on National Route 30.

The procession of buses began at 9 am with the Taiwanese continent and continued until the afternoon without any significant disruptions. Four police helicopters and 273 patrol cars were also mustered for the withdrawal that day. Attendees were placed with accommodations in 128 different places across eight metropolitan cities and provinces nationwide, including Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi, and North Chungcheong.

Meanwhile, the organizing committee continued to show a lack of communication. While access to the delta zone was barred to the general public early in the morning, no prior announcement was made, leading to arguments between security staff and members of the public wondering why they were not being allowed inside.

A taekkyeon exhibition team that was scheduled to perform at the Saemangeum campsite at 2 pm protested to the organizing committee over not receiving notification of the cancelation.

In the afternoon, jamboree attendees relocated from Saemangeum began arriving in various parts of the capital region, including Seoul and Incheon.

On Yonsei University’s International Campus in the Songdo region of Incheon, the first charter bus arrived around 1 pm carrying jamboree attendees from Estonia. It was joined by others carrying participants from Serbia, Belgium, and elsewhere.

The attendees had brightly tanned faces as they got off their buses and busily carried their belongings over to the campus’s dormitory.

When asked about the relocation experience, an Estonian visitor said, “It was fine.”

Regarding the attendees’ future schedule in Korea, they said, “I haven’t heard anything yet. I believe there’s supposed to be a meeting about it soon.”

By Kim Yong-hee, Gwangju correspondent; Park Im-keun, North Jeolla correspondent; Lee Seung-wook, staff reporter

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