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Kim Hyun-sook, the minister of gender equality and family, gives a briefing on the withdrawal from the Saemangeum jamboree campsite on Aug. 8. (Yonhap)

With the much controversial 2023 World Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum now in the rearview mirror, the current administration and ruling party are facing scrutiny for their insistence that the blame for the event’s mismanagement lies with the previous administration and local governments.

Despite government ministries such as the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, as well as North Jeolla Province, having had important roles in establishing, approving, and deciding on the comprehensive plans surrounding the jamboree, the ruling party and administration are adamant that they did their best with the cards they were dealt.

On Sunday, the ruling party and government argued that North Jeolla Province and the Moon Jae-in administration were at fault for the jamboree debacle.

“It was North Jeolla Province and Democratic Party politicians who insisted on holding the jamboree in Saemangeum, which had not even been reclaimed at the time, and problems concerning drainage had been pointed out pretty early,” wrote Kim Gi-hyeon, the leader of the People Power Party, on Facebook that day.

“The jamboree would have been a total failure had the Yoon Suk-yeol administration not rallied its forces and taken action to clean up the mess,” he wrote.

Yoo Sang-bum, a senior spokesman for the ruling party, expressed similar ideas in a written commentary.

“In the five years since August 2017, when the bid was actually finalized, the Moon Jae-in government and North Jeolla Province did not properly prepare infrastructure and amenities such as landfill and drainage for the event, resulting in chaos,” Yoo wrote.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo speaks at a meeting of the emergency countermeasures group for the Saemangeum jamboree on Aug. 11. (Yonhap)

At a press conference at the National Assembly, lawmaker Chung Kyung-hee, a member of the National Assembly’s Gender Equality and Family Committee, argued that a “wrong decision from the very get-go” — that is, the selection of Saemangeum as the venue for the scout gathering — was the “root cause of this disaster.” Chung’s committee has oversight over the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which oversaw the jamboree.

When asked by reporters if she was unaware of any problems in preparing for the jamboree over the past year, she equivocated, saying, “I don’t know. You can’t really understand the problems in the field if you only stay in the National Assembly.”

The government and the presidential office were also unapologetic about the botched operation and appeared to be busy patting themselves on the back.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo posted on Facebook that the British deputy ambassador to Korea, Gareth Weir, had thanked him, saying he was “surprised by the goodwill and problem-solving ability of the Korean government while overseeing this event.”

He also wrote that he had received praise for inspecting the toilets at the Saemangeum camp, adding, “I think it was not for me personally, but for the Korean people and the Korean government, and that it was high praise that acknowledged the effort we put into this.”

The presidential office did not issue any stand-alone message about the jamboree.

Meanwhile, the Board of Audit and Inspection is reportedly preparing to audit North Jeolla Province, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to determine who was responsible for the debacle.

But many argue that a lion’s share of the blame lies with the current administration and ruling party, which have already been in power for more than one year and three months.

According to the Special Act on Support for the 2023 Saemangeum World Scout Jamboree, which stipulates the responsible parties for planning, preparing, and operating the jamboree, the final decision-making authority lies with the joint organizing committee, which includes the minister of gender equality and family.

The minister of gender equality and family had the authority to approve the establishment of the comprehensive plan for the World Scout Jamboree, the formulation and implementation of operational plans, and the formation of the organizing committee.

Kim Yun-duck, a Democratic Party lawmaker on the jamboree organizing committee, bows as he apologizes for the management of the scout gathering during a press conference on Aug. 13. (Yonhap)

In particular, with the exception of Korea Scout Association President Kang Tae-sun and Kim Yun-duck, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, three of the five co-organizers — Gender Equality Minister Kim Hyun-sook, Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min, and Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Park Bo-gyoon — are all members of the current administration.

In response to a question from Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Won-taeg, who raised concerns about preparations for the jamboree in the National Assembly in October 2022, Kim said, “We are prepared for typhoons and heat waves.”

“If they’re just going to blame the previous administration without examining what preparations they undertook during their own term, the public is going to start asking why the current administration took office in the first place,” said Chae Jin-won, a professor at the Kyung Hee University Institute of Public Governance.

“This is a far cry from a responsible attitude,” he added.

The Democratic Party, for its part, has said it would assume responsibility for any mistakes on the previous administration’s part in connection with the jamboree. It has also demanded an apology from Yoon, the resignation of Han Duck-soo as prime minister, and a parliamentary audit.

Speaking with reporters at the National Assembly on Sunday, Kim Sung-joo, the deputy chairperson of the Democrats’ policy committee, announced plans to “thoroughly investigate any mistakes or oversights by the Democratic Party and past administration [in the jamboree bidding process] and apologize and assume responsibility where it is warranted.”

Fellow Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yun-duck, who co-chaired the jamboree’s organizing committee, expressed a “sincere apology for disappointing the people of South Korea and North Jeolla Province.”

By Kang Jae-gu, staff reporter; Sun Dam-eun, staff reporter; Chai Yoon-tae, staff reporter

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