Yoon "Unlimited Supply of Air-Conditioned Buses and Trucks"... Ruling Party and Government Rush to Jamboree Safety Measures (Comprehensive)

President Yoon: "Ensure thorough heatwave measures mobilizing all ministries"
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo holds emergency Cabinet meeting
Ruling party and government hold urgent meeting to discuss additional measures

On the 4th, the government belatedly took measures as heatstroke patients surged at the ‘2023 Saemangeum World Scout Jamboree’ held in Saemangeum, Buan-gun, Jeonbuk. President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered an all-out response from all ministries, including unlimited supply of large air-conditioned buses and refrigerated trucks, and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo convened an emergency Cabinet meeting to approve contingency funds to respond to the heatstroke surge.

Prime Minister Han chaired an emergency Cabinet meeting at the Government Seoul Office that morning to urgently review and approve the government’s contingency fund expenditure plan. The previous afternoon, South Korea activated the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCH) emergency level 2 for the first time in history to respond to the heatwave. Amid nationwide heatwave warnings, 108 heatstroke patients occurred just at the opening ceremony of the Saemangeum Jamboree, with the cumulative number of heatstroke patients nearing 1,000.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Many countries have sent protest letters to the Korean government and are listening to the discomforts of participants through diplomatic channels. The United Kingdom, which sent 4,500 participants, even dispatched embassy staff to Saemangeum.

In response, President Yoon, who was on summer vacation, ordered the unlimited supply of air-conditioned large buses and refrigerated trucks to the Jamboree site and called for an all-out response from all ministries. President Yoon especially urged, as conveyed by Chief Public Relations Officer Kim Eun-hye in a written briefing that morning, "Immediately improve the quality and quantity of meals supplied to students and have all government ministries work with full force to promptly resolve the issues on site."

The ruling party and government also held an emergency safety management countermeasure inspection meeting for the Jamboree at the National Assembly, attended by People Power Party floor leader Yoon Jae-ok and Park Gu-yeon, First Deputy Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination. After the meeting, Floor Leader Yoon explained, "To support safe Scout activities for the record-breaking heatwave and the largest number of participants ever during the Jamboree, we decided to immediately improve necessary matters related to heatstroke patients, meal facilities, hygiene, and safety beyond existing measures." The additional measures agreed upon by the ruling party and government included ▲expansion of electricity supply capacity ▲new distribution of cooling tent buses ▲immediate deployment of additional medical personnel and supplies ▲establishment and implementation of safety measures for indoor and outdoor activities and mass gatherings such as K-pop concerts ▲provision of quality meals, clean restrooms, and shower facilities.

They also decided to provide explanations to alleviate concerns related to Jamboree operations from overseas participants’ parents and others. Floor Leader Yoon said, "We will thoroughly inspect and take measures regarding participants’ safety-related situations through 24-hour emergency duty," adding, "We will also explain government measures in detail to foreign embassies and media to alleviate concerns held by foreign governments and parents of foreign participants."

Earlier, Prime Minister Han ordered the dispatch of military personnel including engineers, medical officers, and nursing officers, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety urgently allocated 3 billion won in special grants to Jeollabuk-do for support. The 3 billion won can be immediately used for additional hospital cooling facility installations for heatstroke prevention, provision of heatwave prevention items and emergency supplies for heatstroke patients, and increasing the number of air-conditioned shuttle buses. Prime Minister Han also instructed Kim Hyun-sook, Minister of Gender Equality and Family and co-chair of the World Jamboree Organizing Committee, to stay on site and take necessary measures until the Jamboree ends.

Voices from the opposition called for scaling down or suspending the Jamboree. Park Kwang-on, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, urged at the party’s Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly that "an accurate judgment on whether to proceed with the Jamboree is needed above all," and "we hope to urgently review and respond to whether to shorten the event period or even suspend it." He added, "There are difficult considerations such as six years of preparation, huge budget investment, and national prestige, but the health of the youth must be prioritized in the judgment." He also pointed out, "It is a critical issue that the opening ceremony continued despite the fire authorities’ request to stop the event." He criticized that there were problems in discovering and transporting heatstroke patients while President Yoon and his spouse attended the opening ceremony.