Tens of thousands of young scouts to leave world jamboree in South Korea as storm Khanun looms

South Korea has initiated plans to evacuate approximately 36,000 scouts from 156 nations who were attending the World Scout Jamboree at a coastal site in the southwestern county of Buan, due to the impending threat of Tropical Storm Khanun. Officials made the announcement on Monday, with evacuation plans to commence Tuesday morning.

South Korea will utilize nearly a thousand buses to facilitate the evacuation, which, according to Kim Sung-ho, a vice minister at South Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety, could take over six hours. Most of the evacuated scouts will find temporary accommodation in Seoul and the neighboring metropolitan region, and efforts are underway to secure spaces at government training centers and educational facilities. The campsite will be abandoned for all further events after the evacuation.

This response was triggered after The World Organization of the Scout Movement urgently requested South Korea to relocate the scouts from the storm’s trajectory and ensure necessary support during their stay and return journey.

Khanun, categorized as a typhoon by South Korea, is predicted to reach the Korean mainland on Thursday morning with wind speeds ranging from 73 to 95 miles per hour. Areas in the south, including Buan, might experience the storm’s impact as early as Wednesday. The storm has already caused disturbances in Japan, leading to one death and 70 injuries in Okinawa, and disruptions to transportation services.

President Yoon Suk Yeol has called for emergency planning, which could include moving the scouts to hotels and other locations in Seoul and surrounding areas.

The jamboree, hosted on reclaimed land, had already faced challenges with hot temperatures leading to the departure of thousands of British and American scouts, as well as the treatment of several participants for heat-related ailments. Critics had earlier voiced concerns about hosting a large youth gathering in an area with minimal shelter from summer heat.

Organizers were actively planning evacuation strategies before the storm’s anticipated arrival. Choi Chang-haeng, the jamboree’s organizing committee’s secretary-general, revealed that over 340 evacuation venues, such as community centers and gyms, had been arranged near Buan.

The jamboree had attracted about 40,000 scouts, mainly teenagers, from 158 countries, with the largest contingents coming from the U.K. and the U.S.

South Korea’s weather agency anticipates that Khanun will diminish to a storm in the next five days, but preparations remain in place to mitigate its effects on the populace and particularly on the young attendees of the jamboree.

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