"Is It a Camping Festival or a Survival Battle? 'Jamboree' Lacks Heatwave Preparedness"

Worst Camping Conditions as Reclaimed Land's Humidity Adds to Heatwave

Underwear Soaked in Sweat Within 10 Minutes... Faces Filled with Frowns

Medication for Heatstroke Patients Runs Out Two Days into Event... Criticism of Poor Management

"It's so hot that I can barely breathe, and there are so many bugs that I couldn't sleep. I want to give up on 'K-Yaeyong' and go back."

On the afternoon of the 3rd, Scouts participating in the World Scout Jamboree event held in Saemangeum, Buan-gun, Jeonbuk, are resting in the shade to escape the heat.
[Photo by Min Hyun-gi]

The 'World Scout Jamboree' currently underway in Saemangeum, Buan-gun, Jeonbuk, has turned from a camping festival into a 'fight for survival.' Patients suffering from heat-related illnesses are pouring in due to the heatwave, but preparations have been grossly insufficient.

According to the organizing committee on the 3rd, 992 patients had been reported within two days (as of 10 p.m. on the 2nd) since the jamboree began on the 1st. Among them, 207 patients suffered from heat-related illnesses, and 106 patients had sunburns caused by intense sunlight.

If patients from that day are included, the number of patients is expected to increase explosively.

Participating in a jamboree walking tour for reporters around 1 p.m. that day, it was immediately clear why the participants wore such grim expressions.

Within less than 10 minutes of walking, even the underwear was soaked, and after 30 minutes, water was dripping from the T-shirts. The humid air made breathing difficult. Looking at the thermometer carried by an official, the mercury was pointing to 40 degrees Celsius.

Currently, combined with the heatwave and the moisture retained by the reclaimed land, the participants from around the world were literally exposed to a 'steam-cooker heat,' with no smiles on their faces, only furrowed brows.

This place is a festival venue but resembled a refugee camp. Scouts exposed to the deadly heat could only stare blankly into space while seeking shaded areas. The 'vine tunnel' prepared by the organizing committee to block the heat had a roof but could not block the strong sunlight.

A 10-year veteran scout who has been active since childhood also shook his head, saying the heat here was hard to endure.

Parag (19) from India said, "No matter how hot Korean summers are, I thought I could endure it because I have been a scout for a long time and traveled to remote areas, but this is the first time I've experienced such heat, and it's maddening."

It was equally difficult for Korean scouts to endure. Kim Sehun (3rd grade, Seowon Elementary School), who came to Saemangeum to participate in scout activities from Seoul, complained, "It's nice to meet and get close to foreign members, but the weather feels like we're going to be barbecued, and it's very tough."

While the weather is unavoidable, there are also criticisms that preparations for heat-related illness patients exposed directly to the heatwave during the event are insufficient.

Currently, the organizing committee lacks sufficient supplies of heat illness treatment drugs such as Normal Saline (physiological saline) and Hartmann's solution, which provide fluids to patients suffering from heat exhaustion and fainting.

They did not anticipate that about 100 heat-related illness patients would flood the jamboree campsite on the second day of the event.

The organizing committee belatedly requested drug supplies through official letters to the nearby medical association and relevant government departments, and Wonkwang University Hospital sent a day's supply of drugs to the site that day, but the emergency situation is ongoing.

Given the situation, voices calling for the suspension of the event due to concerns over a major casualty accident are emerging.

Civil society groups such as Jeonbuk People's Action and Jeonbuk Green Alliance held a press conference around 2 p.m. that day in front of the Saemangeum Scout Jamboree Press Center in Buan-gun, Jeonbuk.

They said, "An international event is taking place outdoors during a heatwave expected to continue throughout the event period, during which the public is advised to refrain from outdoor activities," and "Heatwaves cannot be overcome by willpower, so immediately stop the Saemangeum Jamboree."

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