Ruling bloc officials dismissed calls Thursday to replace Gender Equality Minister Kim Hyun-sook over the mismanagement of the 25th World Scout Jamboree, saying the responsibility should fall on the local government that hosted the event.
Some critics, including opposition politicians, have claimed Kim should be fired for poorly handling the event, which drew widespread criticism for lacking the facilities and equipment needed to host tens of thousands of Scouts and volunteers from around the world during a scorching heat wave last week.
Ruling bloc officials, however, said the provincial government of North Jeolla, where the jamboree campground was located, was wholly responsible for organizing the event, with the central government providing all the additional funds it requested.
“If the host, North Jeolla Province, does not realize its own responsibility for the jamboree breakdown, then it will become difficult to determine right from wrong regarding this issue,” one senior ruling bloc official told Yonhap News Agency.
Another official denied news reports that the ruling People Power Party plans to recommend Kim’s dismissal to President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Following the jamboree’s conclusion Friday, the government will likely launch a massive inspection of what went wrong and who was responsible for the event’s mismanagement.
The inspection will also likely look into the process behind the selection of Saemangeum, a reclaimed wetland on the southwest coast, as the venue and where the massive budget for the jamboree was spent.
Source: Yonhap News Agency