The foreign ministry on Friday established a temporary task force to address concerns raised by diplomatic offices in South Korea over the scorching heat wave and other issues marring the 25th World Scout Jamboree underway in the southwestern coastal region.
Led by Second Vice Foreign Minister Oh Young-ju, the task force will operate 24 hours a day to closely work with the organizing committee at the site in Saemangeum in providing support and addressing issues of concern raised by foreign diplomatic offices in South Korea, the ministry said.
Later in the day, the ministry briefed members of the diplomatic corps in South Korea on the ongoing government efforts to address problems at the Jamboree site. Officials from 23 foreign diplomatic missions attended the session.
The ministry plans to hold an additional briefing for the corps next week.
The event, which drew over 40,000 youths from 158 countries, has faced growing criticism after numerous accounts of a hospital bed shortage, waterlogged conditions due to previous heavy rains, bad food, such as spoiled eggs, and swarms of mosquitoes, as the country has been gripped with record-high temperatures.
Source: Yonhap News Agency