Lee Jung-mi "Hundreds of Jamboree Heat Illness Cases... Government Must Establish Drastic Measures"

Amid a heatwave affecting most regions nationwide, Lee Jeong-mi, leader of the Justice Party, raised her voice saying "This cannot continue" and called for urgent measures after news emerged that about 400 heat-related illness cases occurred on the first day at the '25th World Scout Jamboree (hereafter World Jamboree)' campsite held in Saemangeum, Buan-gun, Jeonbuk.

On the 2nd, Lee stated on her social media (SNS), "The government must prioritize the safety and health of event participants and implement urgent measures, rather than leaving it to the organizing committee's arbitrary judgment."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The World Jamboree is the world's largest youth festival with 43,225 young people from 159 countries participating, and it was held domestically for the first time in 32 years since Goseong in 1991. Although the official schedule runs for 12 days starting from this day, an unprecedented heatwave caused about 400 heat-related illness cases on the very first day.

Lee criticized, "The organizing committee says they are responding without major issues and have deployed fire stations and 119 ambulances, but under such abnormal weather conditions, this could be too little, too late. Is it right to force the event to proceed under the scorching sun without a single shade, enduring the heat just for the sake of the event?"

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo posted on SNS the day before, "Heavy rain and heat are a concern. I ask all public officials to take care of the safety of these people as if 'my family' were in Saemangeum," and requested, "The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and local governments that prepared this event should thoroughly inspect the crisis situation and respond proactively in case of disaster."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.