The first World Scout Summer Camp since Covid-19 attracted about 43,000 youth from 155 countries to participate, and is an opportunity to promote Korea, a country that wants to show off its ability to organize events.

Dome covered with vines at the World Scout Camp in Buan, South Korea, August 8.

The camp started on August 1 in a field in Buan, about 180 km southwest of Seoul, amid a sweltering heat wave.

A report by the Saemangeum Investment and Development Agency, the government organization that develops the campsite, five years ago called for adequate shelters and toilets to prepare for this massive event.

`The campsite is located in a field, with no trees to provide shade, and no shelter from the sun to ensure the safety of participants,` the report said.

In reports published in 2018 and 2020, North Jeolla Province planners realized that the plan to plant trees in the campsite was impossible because the soil was too salty.

Therefore, a few days after the camp took place, hundreds of scouts fell ill from heat stroke, while Buan experienced a heat wave with temperatures reaching 34 degrees Celsius. The organizers dispatched more vehicles.

The trouble doesn’t stop there.

`The weather is terrible,` Sophie, a British teenager attending summer camp, expressed on August 4.

Matt Hyde, chief executive of the Boy Scouts of England, said troop members decided to pull out of the event because the toilets were not clean enough, rubbish was piling up and there was not enough food.

`It’s not safe here,` Hyde said, calling for an independent investigation into the event plans.

The US delegation also announced their move to the US Army’s Humphreys base near Buan on August 6.

South Korean Gender Equality Minister Kim Hyun-sook said toilets that are not clean enough are one of the biggest problems at summer camps.

As South Korea struggled to find a way to overcome sanitation problems, Typhoon Khanoun with winds of more than 61 km/h approached the southern coast of Korea, threatening to blow away tents.

The chaos at the summer camp received a lot of criticism in the international media, at a time when the Korean government was trying to win the right to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan.

November is the time to announce the country chosen to host the event.

`Korea is a developed country. Who would have thought that a country like that couldn’t handle problems like insects or toilets?`

World Scout Summer Camp in Buan, Korea, August 5.

An official from the Saemangeum development agency, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said too many people were involved in the summer camp preparations, leading to `poor management` of issues such as sanitation and delaying the remediation process.

`We also feel very sorry for what happened,` this official expressed.