Seoul : Tens of thousands of scouts are set to gather for a massive K-pop festival in Seoul on Friday, as South Korea seeks to salvage a problem-plagued jamboree with “the power of Korean culture”.
But even as the government throws millions of dollars in emergency funding into fixing an event that has been a public relations disaster, criticism — from K-pop fans to public sector employees — is mounting over Seoul’s approach.
The quadrennial world jamboree gathered 43,000 scouts in North Joella province, but an unprecedented heatwave prompted mass illnesses, US and UK contingents left early amid reports of dire campsite conditions, and a tropical storm finally forced a full evacuation this week.
The scouts have since been dispersed across the country and sent on government-sponsored cultural tours, but the “K-pop Superlive” concert — featuring major acts including…
