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Turbulent World Scout Meeting: Closing Ceremony in Seoul
World Scout Jamboree participants leave their camp. photo
© Kim Myung-nyeon/Newsis/AP/dpa
When the typhoon approached South Korea, the meeting of scouts from all over the world was canceled for the time being. The young people come together again for the graduation ceremony.
After turbulent days and the early evacuation of their camp in South Korea because of a typhoon, tens of thousands of Boy Scouts from all over the world are back in action Seoul came together for the official farewell. About 40,000 participants at this year’s World Scout Gathering gathered at the capital’s World Cup stadium on Friday for the closing ceremony, which was followed by a concert featuring Korean popular music (K-pop) singers and groups.
The last few days have not been easy, said the General Secretary of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, Ahmad Alhendawi, from a stage to the mostly young participants. “No other event has experienced so many challenges and extreme weather conditions.” The ceremony was broadcast on Youtube.
Since the start of the world’s largest scout camp in Saemangeum on the west coast on August 1st, heavy rains, a subsequent heat wave and organizational problems had hit the participants.
When a tropical storm later approached the Korean peninsula, the South Korean government decided that the huge tent camp had to be cleared last Tuesday. Since then, the participants – including the German contingent with 2,200 scouts – have been housed in permanent accommodation in Seoul and other regions. The camp was originally supposed to be up until August 12th. Typhoon Khanun, which brought heavy rain and strong winds, left the country for North Korea on Friday night.