South Korea’s national image was (sort-of) restored by an ensemble line-up of K-Pop stars following the unfortunate 25th World Scout Jamboree. No, this wasn’t made up or anything.
The 25th World Scout Jamboree held at Saemangeum in the North Jeolla province in South Korea has just finished, and especially not without major hiccups along the way.
Attended by 43,000 participants from 158 countries, the 25th World Scout Jamboree in South Korea had the theme, “Draw Your Dream!,” which did not quite translate well following the criticisms and failures faced by the organizing committee.
Since the beginning of the event, scout contingents arriving from different parts of the world were met with disappointing facilities, transportation, and sanitation, and the site had also just experienced flooding before the event’s opening ceremony. There were food shortages and hygiene issues on the site, and basic facilities had not been sufficient to meet the needs of 43,000 participants.
In the course of the next few days, youth participants were reported to have been suffering from the effects of the heat wave, with over 1,400 people visiting the on-site hospital on August 4th. Justifiably, contingents from the United Kingdom, United States, Taiwan, and Singapore had all withdrawn from the event on August 4 to 7.
When Typhoon Khanun (Typhoon Falcon in the PH) was forecasted to affect the area, the World Organization of the Scout Movement had requested the South Korean government to end the jamboree and to let all attendees relocate to hotels and accommodation in Seoul.
On August 11, 2023, the 2023 Saemangeum World Scout Jamboree K-Pop Super Live was a concert that also served as the closing ceremony for the 25th World Scout Jamboree. It was held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium and had a star-studded lineup: HolyBang, The Boyz, The New Six, ATBO, xikers, Jo Yu-ri, KARD, P1Harmony, Libelante, Zerobaseone, NewJeans, Kwon Eun-bi, Fromis_9, Kang Daniel, Showny x Hyungwon, IVE, ITZY, MAMAMOO, and NCT DREAM.
However, this was also met with controversy by the media. Dispatch, a popular South Korean media outlet, had leaked testimonies from insiders stating that idols were “forced” to attend the K-Pop Super Live to “appease” and reduce the “nightmarish” memories of the Saemangeum attendees.
Dispatch asked entertainment agencies from August 8 to 10 about their participation, and received this reply: “Do we have the power to refuse a national event? If you’re asked to attend, you have no choice but to respond.”
Idol groups and artists are known to have tight schedules, and entertainment agencies were heavily concerned about re-scheduling and re-scheduling the artists’ schedules to fit the timetable of the Jamboree Organizing Committee.
Several officials from different agencies all revealed their concerns:
“I cancelled the schedule for that day to attend on the 6th (the original date of the K-Pop Super Live concert). Then it was suddenly changed to the 11th. I’m currently re-adjusting Friday schedules. I don’t think they understand idol schedules at all.”
“The company puts in a ton of effort to put out an album. Singers put their all into it during that period.”
“I understand being fortunate enough to receive an opportunity to comfort members that suffered in Saemangeum through K-Pop performances but regrettably, there is zero understanding or consideration for the singers. For example, they don’t understand that when a schedule is cancelled, protests from fans and companies follow.”
“Idols cost more than 10 million won. To organize such an ambiguous event with zero mention of guarantees for staff is…After all, it’s the idol agency that suffers from a general mobilization order for the Jamboree. The Organizing Committee seems to be denying they’re forcing people to appear and downplaying the controversy claiming, “the production team of KBS ‘Music Bank’ was in charge of casting.”
“No one is thinking it’s just ‘Music Bank’ when they’re recruited to attend KBS ‘Music Bank’. No one says I’d rather have a concert instead of ‘Music Bank’. It’s an event being held for our country so we’re risking everything if we don’t go out.”
Originally, K-Pop supergroup BTS was supposed to attend the K-Pop Super Live concert but did not push through due to 2 members being in the military, 1 preparing for his enlistment, and 1 in the middle of preparations for his solo album.
However, according to Dispatch’s report, HYBE had been requested by the Jamboree Organizing Committee to provide free BTS merch in the concert.
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