South Korea is preparing to evacuate tens of thousands of scouts from a coastal jamboree site as Tropical Storm Khanun looms, world scouting officials said said Monday.
The World Organization of the Scout Movement said it received confirmation from South Korea’s government of the early departure for all participants in the southwestern county of Buan. That means quickly moving about 40,000 scouts from 158 countries, mostly teenagers, out of the storm's path.
South Korea's weather agency said the region will be affected by the storm as early as Wednesday.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office said he called for “contingency” plans to protect the scouts from the storm, which could include relocating them to hotels and other facilities in the country’s capital, Seoul, and nearby metropolitan areas.
Hot temperatures have already forced thousands of British and American scouts to leave campsite made on land reclaimed from sea.