Scout camp in South Korea

  

Han Duck-Soo/Scouter takes cover in the shadows. AP 

South Korea refuses to cancel scout camps despite defections  

South Korea is determined to continue with the World Scout Jamboree camp until the announced end date of August 12, despite criticism and dropouts in the wake of the current heat wave, the AP reports.  

The announcement was made by Prime Minister Han Duck-Soo at a press conference. He promises additional safety measures such as more medical staff, more air-conditioned vehicles and more places with shade.  

President Yoon Suk-Yeol has promised "unlimited access" to air-conditioned buses and refrigerated trucks with water.  

Earlier, the BBC reported that the American, British and Singaporean Scout Associations are withdrawing from the camp. Hundreds have been forced to seek medical attention at the camp, where tens of thousands of scouts from around the world participate. 

- During the day you don't go into the tent, because then you faint, says Swedish Elsa Sköldberg to SVT Nyheter.  

British scouts about to leave the scout camp in Buan, South Korea. Kim Joo-hyung / AP 

After the criticism – thousands leave scout camps  

Thousands of young people leave the big scout camp in South Korea after the heat wave, writes the BBC. It is the British Scout Association that, together with the American and Singaporean teams, withdraws from the event.  

This after massive criticism of the organizers that they cannot protect the participants from the prevailing heat wave in the country.  

South Korea's government has said it will send an additional 60 doctors and "unlimited" air-conditioned buses to the event. 

Described as the world's largest youth camp, the World Scout Jamboree gathers scouts from around the world every four years, each time in a different country.