▲ President Yoon Suk Yeol gives a welcoming speech at the opening ceremony of the 2023 World Scout Jamboree, in Buan, North Jeolla Province, about 200 kilometers southwest of Seoul, on Aug 2, 2023, in this photo provided by the presidential office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ Bottles of water are stacked on the campsite for the World Scout Jamboree in the Saemangeum reclamation area on South Korea's southwest coast on Aug. 6, 2023. (Yonhap)
▲ Members of the British scout contingent to the World Scout Jamboree arrive at a Seoul hotel on Aug. 6, 2023, after leaving the campsite in the Saemangeum reclamation area on South Korea's southwest coast. (Yonhap)
▲ Participants at the World Scout Jamboree in the Saemangeum reclamation area on South Korea's southwest coast play in an outdoor pool on Aug. 6, 2023. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Yoon-jamboree

(LEAD) Yoon calls for all-out efforts to keep jamboree campsite clean

(ATTN: ADDS photos, details in last 5 paras)

SEOUL, Aug. 6 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol called for all-out efforts Sunday to keep the conditions at the 2030 World Scout Jamboree campsite hygienic amid the scorching heat, his office said.

Yoon gave the instruction after being briefed by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Interior Minister Lee Sang-min on the latest on the campsite in the Saemangeum reclamation area on the country's southwest coast, as the sweltering heat wave has sent the jamboree contingents of some countries, including the U.S. and Britain, out of the site.

Yoon especially instructed officials to take special care against any incident, such as food poisoning, his chief press secretary, Kim Eun-hye, quoted him as saying in a written message to media.

Yoon also spoke by phone with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Foreign Minister Park Jin and told them to make sure the British and U.S. contingents, staying in the capital and the U.S. base of Pyeongtaek, safely experience various cultural activities while they remain outside of the jamboree site, his office said.

Having left the campsite, the British contingent will visit war memorials in and around Seoul to pay tributes to British veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War, the veterans ministry said Sunday.

The ministry said it proposed the tribute program after learning that the British scouts were looking for things to do after leaving Saemangeum.

In a press briefing later Sunday, presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon said both public and private sectors have sent numerous supplies to Saemangeum, such as bottles of ice water, ice cream, pastries, sunscreen, electric fans, ambulances, air-conditioned buses and portable bathrooms. Dozens of cleaning personnel and medical professionals have been sent to the campsite, according to the jamboree organizers.

Asking for anonymity, an official of the presidential office said the government will stay above the fray and not get dragged into political fighting over who should be held responsible for a series of embarrassing incidents at the scout event.

"Political parties or the media may raise such issues, but the government will stay focused on making things right," the official said.

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