"Pay for Lunchboxes" Jamboree Mobilized Officials Boil Over Food Expense Claims

Jeonbuk Province Collects Meal Fees from Officials on Field Support
Netizens: "Asking Officials on Support Duty to Pay"
Jeonbuk Province Explains "Included in Travel Expenses"

Jeonbuk Province is facing backlash for collecting meal fees from public officials who were dispatched to support the 2023 Saemangeum World Scout Jamboree site under scorching heat that caused numerous heat-related illnesses. Jeonbuk Province explained that this is a procedure to reclaim meal expenses included in the travel allowance.

On the 10th, the Jeonbuk Provincial Government's Autonomous Administration Division reportedly sent a text message notice to public officials who completed support duties on the 9th, the day after all Scout members withdrew from the Saemangeum campsite, demanding meal fees, according to Yonhap News.

A 12,000 won lunchbox provided to Jeonbuk Province officials mobilized for the Jamboree.
[Photo by Yonhap News, source: online community]

The notice message stated, "Thank you very much for your hard work in the hot weather inspecting facilities related to the Jamboree. We apologize for the burden, but each department has decided to collect meal fees from the deployed staff."

The meal fee is 12,000 KRW per person, and each department calculated the meal fees based on the number of participants and instructed them to transfer the amount to the responsible person's account.

In this absurd situation, some public officials posted their grievances anonymously on the workplace community 'Blind' regarding this matter.

A poster who supported cleaning at the Jamboree on the 4th wrote, "We departed at 1 PM, started work at 2 PM, ate the provided lunchbox for dinner, worked until 8:30 PM, and returned at 9:30 PM. However, a lunchbox fee of 12,000 KRW was charged to those who supported the Jamboree."

The poster also shared a photo of the lunchbox. Netizens who saw it criticized, saying, "It's worse than a 4,500 KRW convenience store lunchbox," and "Who came up with the idea to charge for the lunchbox?"

A public official from Jeonbuk, who was urgently deployed in a volunteer capacity for cleaning at the Saemangeum Jamboree, expressed frustration on an online community site, saying, "They made me work and even asked me to pay for the lunchbox. Is this a 12,000 won lunchbox?" [Photo by 'Blind']

Another netizen raised their voice of criticism, saying, "Now they are asking volunteers and deployed staff to pay money, which is unbelievable," and "This is really beyond common sense."

A Jeonbuk Province official said, "Since so many employees were deployed, one department could not bear all the meal expenses," adding, "We wanted to help as much as possible knowing the staff’s hard work in the hot weather, but there was no legal basis to provide additional support beyond the travel allowance."

He further explained, "We did not ask employees to pay for meals out of their own pockets, but requested the return of meal expenses included in the travel allowance," and added, "The meal fees collected from employees will be used solely for settlement with the lunchbox vendor."