Democratic Party: "Jamboree, We Will Reflect on Our Mistakes... President Yoon Must Apologize"

Kim Sung-joo, Senior Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Party Policy Committee, Meeting
"Han Duck-soo Should Resign as Prime Minister"

The Democratic Party of Korea demanded accountability from the Yoon Suk-yeol administration regarding the chaotic operation of the Saemangeum World Scout Jamboree, stating, "Those responsible will be held accountable." Kim Seong-ju, the senior deputy chairman of the Democratic Party's Policy Committee, called for President Yoon Suk-yeol's apology and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo's resignation in relation to the government's responsibility.

At a press briefing on the 13th, Deputy Chairman Kim pointed out, "The Jamboree incident can be summarized in three words: lack of preparation, poor management, and evasion of responsibility."

He referred to the grand entrance ceremony during the Jamboree opening, where President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife, the current Honorary President of the Korea Scout Association, were given the highest honors, saying, "On that day, the Scout members were exhausted, resulting in as many as 108 cases of heat-related illnesses." He continued, "After the British Scout troop decided to withdraw, 262 air-conditioned buses and 69 shade tents were hastily added, and the cleaning staff was increased from 70 to 1,400," criticizing, "Why couldn't these preparations have been made in advance?" Furthermore, regarding the decision to evacuate during the approach of Typhoon Khanun, he said, "From the beginning, there was no plan to borrow facilities from universities and companies nationwide if a typhoon came," and introduced, "On July 25, before the event, the government stated that 342 shelters were prepared to accommodate over 50,000 people in case activities became difficult due to typhoons and heavy rain. The designated shelters were nearby school auditoriums or multipurpose facilities." He added, "Since these were places where people could only stay temporarily and not live, the participants had no choice but to scatter across the country."

Regarding the responsibility of local governments, Deputy Chairman Kim said, "Among the five organizing committee chairs, the ministers of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Ministry of the Interior and Safety, which are the departments responsible for practical matters, participated. It is cowardly to shift the responsibility of an event decided by the government and executed by Jeonbuk Province onto Jeonbuk Province alone." He continued, "The Moon Jae-in administration developed infrastructure such as the Saemangeum campsite reclamation and construction, while the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's main tasks were preparation and safety inspections necessary for the actual event operation," and criticized, "Where do the heatwave and hygiene measures, which were the decisive reasons for the withdrawal of the UK and US teams, fall under?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding the controversy, Deputy Chairman Kim stated, "We demand the president's apology, the prime minister's resignation, and a national audit concerning the Jamboree fiasco." He said, "Those responsible must take accountability, and the president, as the Honorary President of the Korea Scout Association, must offer a sincere apology to our citizens, Scouts from around the world, and their parents." Referring to a press release from last May in which Prime Minister Han stated he had "carefully overseen the government support committee," he added, "Don't just blame the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which is going to be abolished anyway; Prime Minister Han, as the chair of the Saemangeum Jamboree government support committee, should take responsibility."

Regarding the national audit, he said, "First, we will handle the issues through the standing committee, and if there are any shortcomings, we will conduct a national audit," adding, "We do not trust the Prime Minister's Office's Office for Government Policy Coordination, which is responsible for this incident, to conduct inspections, nor do we trust the Board of Audit and Inspection to carry out audits." He also stated, "The Democratic Party and Jeollabuk-do will reflect on what needs reflection, apologize where necessary, and take responsibility where required."

On the budget settlement review, Deputy Chairman Kim said, "We will not conduct a superficial review as a mere formality for post-approval just because the budget has already been executed," and added, "The Democratic Party defines this budget review as the 'Yoon Suk-yeol settlement,' evaluating the president's one year of national administration, and will analyze and assess every individual budget item in detail to comprehensively evaluate the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's policies and achievements."

He stated, "We will thoroughly investigate problematic projects and budgets such as the Jamboree event that lowered South Korea's national prestige and hurt the pride of its people, disaster response projects that failed to protect citizens' lives and safety, and the Yangpyeong Expressway controversy, which has caused public outrage due to its cancellation farce," and added, "We will also examine issues such as the presidential office's relocation to Yongsan, the prosecution's special activity funds that have become petty cash, the revenue shortfall caused by successive tax cuts, and budgets that were deleted or left unused simply because they were initiated during the Moon Jae-in administration."

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