Scout jamboree in South Korea closes with regrets and K-pop concert

Ceremony at Seoul’s World Cup stadium wraps up event beset by heatwave, unsanitary conditions and threat of typhoon

The 25th World Scout Jamboree has concluded with a concert in Seoul after a tumultuous 11-day journey across South Korea that was marred by a heatwave, unsanitary conditions and an evacuation owing to a typhoon threat.

“The last few days have not been easy, to say the least,” said Ahmad Alhendawi, the secretary general of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement during the closing ceremony on Friday at Seoul’s World Cup stadium.

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‘Worst nightmare’: South Korea mulls disastrous Scout jamboree

Youngsters faced a heatwave, flooded tents, sewage spills and an expensive evacuation – but concerns were raised before the event even began

Media outlets in South Korea have labelled its hosting of the World Scout Jamboree a “national disgrace”, a “survival game”, and a “worst nightmare”. Public outcry has intensified online and strangers are approaching scouts on the streets, apologising on behalf of their country and handing out gifts.

South Korea has successfully hosted large events such as the Fifa World Cup and Winter Olympics, but the mismanagement of the global scouting event, which struggled with heat and hygiene and eventually had to be evacuated as a typhoon approached, has left many wondering: where did it all go wrong?

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Wednesday briefing: What went wrong at South Korea’s World Scout Jamboree?

In today’s newsletter: As thousands of scouts are evacuated from their quadrennial global get-together, the host nation’s handling of the event is in the spotlight

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Good morning. Imagine you are going on a school trip, but it’s with thousands of other schools, and the trip is to Fyre festival, and the guys from Trainspotting are taking care of the sanitation. Oh, and there’s an enormous hurricane on its way.

That may sum up what 4,500 British scouts have felt this week, after their trip of a lifetime to the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea turned into a bad comedy marked by successive calamities, natural and human-made, that yesterday culminated in the mass evacuation of all 43,000 young people.

Northern Ireland | A “monumental” data breach has exposed the names and rank of every serving Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officer. A spreadsheet was mistakenly published online for up to three hours in response to a freedom of information request. The Police Federation for Northern Ireland said it was a “breach of monumental proportions”.

Security | The data of millions of voters was accessible to hackers in a cyber-attack by “hostile actors” discovered almost a year ago, the Electoral Commission has admitted. The watchdog apologised for the security breach in which the names and addresses of millions of voters were accessible to hackers as far back as 2021.

Health | Millions of people under the age of 65 in England will be denied flu and Covid jabs this winter despite one of the government’s top public health officials warning that coronavirus has not “gone away”.

Conservatives | The Home Office spent more than £1,500 of public money painting over cartoon murals that were meant to welcome children to a controversial asylum reception centre, it can be revealed.

France | Five Marseille police officers have been detained for questioning over the death of a 27-year-old man during rioting in the French city on 1 July. The public prosecutor suggested it was “probable” Mohamed Bendriss died after “a violent shock to the thorax caused by a ‘flash-ball’ type projectile”, a controversial police weapon, that caused him to go into cardiac arrest.

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Thousands of scouts evacuated from world jamboree in South Korea as storm nears

Government deploys 1,000 buses to move young people but insists programmes will continue elsewhere

Tens of thousands of scouts began arriving at university dormitories, training centres and hotels around Seoul and other inland cities on Tuesday afternoon as the South Korean government evacuated attenders at the World Scout Jamboree before a tropical storm.

More than 1,000 buses are being deployed to move 37,000 scouts – mostly teenagers visiting from 156 countries – from the site in the south-western county of Buan.

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South Korea to evacuate scout jamboree as typhoon looms

Site has been plagued by issues including heatwave that left hundreds ill last week

All participants at this year’s World Scout Jamboree in South Korea will be evacuated from the campsite before the scheduled end date of 12 August due to a typhoon that is expected to make landfall over the Korean peninsula in the coming days, in the latest blow to the event.

The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) said it had received confirmation from the South Korean government that, due to the expected impact of Typhoon Khanun, an early departure would be planned for all participants at the global youth event in the south-western county of Buan.

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UK Scouts says £1m cost of relocating jamboree will affect its work for years

Head of Scout Association says event in South Korea had been poorly organised even before threat of Typhoon Khanun

The £1m cost of relocating the 4,500-strong UK contingent at the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea will affect the work of the Scout Association for as much as five years, the organisation’s boss has said.

Matt Hyde, the UK Scouts chief executive, said the association had been forced to dip into its reserves after the event’s organisers decided to clear the campsite five days early because of an incoming typhoon that is expected to make landfall over the Korean peninsula in the coming days.

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Mother of UK scout tells of ‘unbearable’ conditions at South Korea jamboree

Woman says 16-year-old son was exhausted from camping in temperatures of up to 35C and is now at hotel in Seoul

A mother has spoken out about the “unbearable” conditions her son experienced at the World Scout Jamboree campsite in South Korea, after temperatures reached 35C (95F) and organisers refused to end the event early.

The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said her 16-year-old son had been removed from the site by the UK Scout Association on Saturday because of the heatwave and was sleeping on the floor of a “cramped” hotel room near Seoul airport with three other scouts.

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US and UK scouts pull out of world jamboree campsite due to extreme heat

Thousands of scouts to be removed from site after hundreds of heat-related illnesses at event in South Korea

Thousands of UK and US scouts attending the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea are being removed from the official campsite in the south-western county of Buan amid a suffocating heatwave.

The event, which started this week, has drawn 43,000 young scouts from 158 countries, with the UK contingent the largest at 4,500.

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South Korea spends millions to rescue World Scout Jamboree amid scorching heatwave

President says ‘unlimited’ airconditioned buses will be provided and food will be improved, after hundreds fall ill in heat amid soaring temperatures

South Korea has pumped millions into improving conditions at a global Scouts gathering it is hosting amid a suffocating heatwave, with president Yoon Suk Yeol ordering “unlimited” air-conditioned buses and cold-water trucks and hundreds more sanitary and medical staff being brought in.

The World Scout Jamboree, which kicked off on 8.8 sq km of unsheltered tidelands in the south-western county of Buan on Tuesday, has seen hundreds needing treatment for heat-related ailments. On Thursday, 138 people visited clinics and hospitals with heat-related illnesses, bringing the total tally to over 700.

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Heatwave sees hundreds fall ill at World Scout Jamboree in South Korea

At least 400 require treatment for heat-related symptoms on first day of global event attracting more than 40,000 young people from 158 countries

Hundreds of attendees at the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea have fallen ill as the country grapples with an extended heatwave affecting large swathes of the country.

The event, which started earlier this week, has drawn 43,000 young Scouts from 158 countries this year. By the end of the first day, Tuesday, officials had counted at least 400 patients who needed treatment for heat-related symptoms such as headaches, dizziness and exhaustion. On Wednesday, a further 207 heat-related cases emerged.

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Teenager among 15 heat-related deaths as Japan and South Korea swelter

In South Korea, 12 people died from heat-related deaths last weekend, while in Japan, three people died including a 13 year-old on her way back from school

Twelve people have died from heat-related causes in South Korea as it swelters through a heatwave, while in Japan it emerged a 13-year-old girl had died from heatstroke on her way back from a school club.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that at least five of those who died over the weekend were farmers, and at least seven were over 70, including some in their 90s. Most of the country has been under a heatwave warning – issued when temperatures pass 35C – since Tuesday. Over the previous week, three people are believed to have died from heat-related causes.

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North Korea fires missiles into sea hours after US submarine arrives in the South

South Korean armed forces condemn the two launches as a ‘grave provocation’

North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast, adding to a recent streak of weapons testing that is apparently in protest against the US sending naval assets to South Korea.

In its third round of launches since last week, North Korea fired the missiles from an area near its capital, Pyongyang, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said early on Tuesday local time. It said the missiles travelled about 250 miles (400km) before landing in waters off the Korean peninsula’s eastern coast.

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How brutal heat is breaking records everywhere from the US to Japan

Temperatures reached as high as 53.3C in the US and flooding hit South Korea and India

A remote township in the north-western region of Xinjiang set a Chinese record of 52.2C (125.9F) on Sunday – in a country that was battling -50C weather six months ago. Sanbao is in the Turpan Depression, an arid basin of sand dunes and dried-up lakes where 50.3C was recorded in 2015. Beijing topped its record for high-temperature days in a year on Tuesday, with 27 days above 35C. The temperature in its southern suburbs soared even higher on Wednesday to 36.3C.

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North Korea fails to answer entreaties about US soldier who crossed border

Travis King had finished prison term in South Korea for assault and was supposed to be returning to Texas

North Korea is not responding to US attempts to discuss the American soldier who crossed the heavily armed border and whose prospects for a quick release are unclear when military tensions are high and communication channels inactive.

Pte Travis King, who was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas, after finishing a prison sentence in South Korea for assault, ran into North Korea while on a civilian tour of the border village of Panmunjom on Tuesday. He is the first known American to be held in North Korea in nearly five years.

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US soldier detained by North Korea after crossing border during visit to DMZ

US and UN officials working to ‘resolve incident’ after private crossed border at truce village without authorisation

An American soldier being sent back to the US to face possible disciplinary action crossed in to North Korea during a tour of the demilitarised zone, US officials have said, becoming the first American detained in the North in nearly five years.

Private 2nd Class Travis King had served nearly two months in a South Korean prison for assault before being released to be sent home to Fort Bliss, Texas, on Monday, where he potentially faced additional military disciplinary actions and discharge from the service.

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Extreme heatwave live: Texas city confirms first heat death; northern hemisphere boils in severe weather – as it happened

Man in Houston died in house without air conditioning; mercury in parts of Italy is close to hitting 45C as wildfires ravage Greece and Spain

South Korean president blames botched responses for rising death toll

South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has blamed authorities’ failure to follow disaster response rules as the death toll from days of torrential rain grew to 39, including a dozen people found dead in a submerged underpass.

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South Korea floods: president urges climate crisis action as death toll hits 40

President Yoon Suk Yeol calls for overhaul of national preparedness as extreme weather becomes ‘commonplace’

Rescuers in South Korea have recovered a total of 13 bodies from a flooded road tunnel in a central city, as the death toll from flash floods and landslides triggered by days of heavy rain rose to at least 40 on Monday.

The devastation prompted the country’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, to warn that the climate crisis had made extreme weather a fact of life.

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South Korea floods leave dozens dead as rescuers scramble to find tunnel victims

Bodies recovered from underpass as downpours trigger landslides and force evacuation of thousands

Rescuers in South Korea are battling to reach people trapped in a flooded tunnel, while at least 37 people have died after heavy rains caused flooding and landslides.

South Korea is at the peak of its summer monsoon season and there has been heavy rainfall for the last four days, causing a major dam to overflow.

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South Korean president makes surprise visit to Ukraine in show of support

Yoon Suk-yeol, whose country gives humanitarian and financial aid but not arms, laid flowers at monument to war dead

The South Korean president, Yoon Suk-yeol, made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Saturday, in an apparent show of support for the country in its war with Russia.

Yoon travelled to Ukraine with his wife, Kim Keon-hee, after trips to Lithuania for a Nato summit and to Poland, his office said. It is his first visit since Russia invaded Ukraine almost 17 months ago.

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North Korea fires ballistic missile towards Japan

Rocket went 1,000km, says South Korea, after Kim Jong-un’s sister threatened ‘shocking’ consequences for alleged US spy plane flights

North Korea fired a ballistic missile off its east coast towards Japan on Wednesday, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said, in a move that followed threats of retaliation for alleged US spy plane flights.

The missile flew about 1,000km (621 miles) before crashing into the water, South Korea’s military said. Japan’s chief cabinet secretary said the missile came down about 250km west of Okushiri island in Japan’s northernmost Hokkaido prefecture, after a flight taking 74 minutes that reached an altitude of more than 6,000km.

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