About 10,000 young Scouts and adult volunteers who participated in the 2023 World Scout Jamboree in South Korea were ready to depart back home Saturday, according to the Interior and safety ministry.
The ministry said over 10,000 participants headed to the airport on Saturday alone to return to their respective countries.
The central government and local governments will host various cultural programs, and provide food and transportation services to the remaining participants until they depart for home, it added.
Interior Minister Lee Sang-min earlier said the government will “provide convenience to the participants of the jamboree and take care of the safety of each of them until the last one (departs).”
The quadrennial global event kicked off in Saemangeum, Aug. 1, for a 12-day run, with about 40,000 Scouts joining from 158 countries.
The British, U.S. and some other contingents pulled out of the campsite after just a few days amid safety concerns arising from a prolonged heat wave and a lack of sanitation in the reclaimed treeless land area.
Earlier this week, the rest of the Scouts also evacuated to Seoul and seven other regions, as Typhoon Khanun was forecast to make landfall near the site. (Yonhap)
