Finale of shameful Jamboree
Authorities must be held accountable for failed event
The 25th World Scout Jamboree in Korea will end on Saturday.
All Koreans wish for its smooth finale, hoping about 43,000 teenagers from over 150 countries return home safely.
The 12-day event was a complete mess of natural and human disasters. No, it was just a human and governmental failure ? You could regret Mother Nature but never blame her.
It's dumbfounding to hear the media's seemingly hasty post-mortems reveal the causes of this fiasco one after another. Its hosts brought the event to Korea from the start to turn the vast reclaimed mud flats into an industrial space rather than putting on the Jamboree for the Scouts.
Nothing showed this better than the fact that the campsite was the most recently reclaimed space, still salty and undrained. According to reports, localities plan to build an airport there by 2029. In short, they provided young visitors with the least suitable lots for camping. Poor facilities, sanitation and food quickly became the talk of the global village.
Many Koreans say they cannot hold their heads up because all this occurred in modern Korea, the world's 13th-largest economy and a cultural and technological powerhouse. We don't know why the people should feel ashamed and sorry for the disaster caused by greedy, incompetent and irresponsible officials.
The failed Jamboree showed the bare face of Korea's public service. As always, however, officials are adding insult to injury. As do elected and appointed officials, the central and local governments are pointing fingers at each other. If past experiences are any guide, President Yoon Suk Yeol will order the punishment of a dozen lower-echelon officials and wrap it all up in a month or two. But this national disgrace must not end so.
The prime culprit, of course, is its organizers. North Jeolla Province and Buan County must be held accountable for such dismal preparations while wasting taxpayers' money. Reports of local officials going on junkets and cruise tours for Jamboree preparations made people doubt their ears. The province is traditionally the political stronghold of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea. Considering that and the former Moon Jae-in administration's failure to rectify problems, the DPK must suppress the temptation to use it for parliamentary polls next May.
However, among the "five" co-chairpersons of the organizing committee are three incumbent cabinet ministers. Local officials reportedly complained that the central government took their initiative away and did nothing. Insiders also recalled frequent and loud arguments within the committee. All this leads to a recurring problem of the incumbent administration ? the lack of a control tower, especially in safety-related tasks. Yoon left the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in charge, probably forgetting it was one of his campaign pledges to abolish the ministry. Now, the president has one more reason to keep his promise.
The chief executive is also not free from responsibility, not just because he likes saying, "The buck stops here." Admittedly, the president saved the event from an early closure with his "national mobilization" order, improving things in a few days. That very fact leads to a more hopeful scenario. Had Yoon, reportedly a former Scout, visited the site a few months or weeks earlier and spotted problems, things could be considerably different. Even the three cabinet ministers and co-chairs, who should have spent much time there, went to the site only a few times. It might be rather strange if the event had gone all right.
A study on the Saemangeum Jamboree anticipated these problems seven years ago. There will be audits and parliamentary hearings.
We propose two things.
First, make a white paper on this jamboree fiasco to reflect on the nation's public service systems and practices and to prevent similar disasters.
Second, give back some 6.5 million won ($5,000) in participating fees to 43,000 scouts. The government could find the money from its budget or 2.6 trillion won spending for the entire Saemangeum project.
That will not be too expensive to reaffirm one lesson ? never let adults' greed trample on youngsters' dreams.
Source: Yonhap News Agency