Several World Scout Jamboree participants seeking asylum in S. Korea

Scouts prepare to leave the World Scout Jamboree in Buan, North Jeolla province on August 8, 2023. Tens of thousands of scouts were being evacuated from their problem-plagued South Korean campsite on August 8 ahead of a typhoon, as the scout chief said the challenges were unprecedented in a century of global jamborees. AFP-Yonhap

Multiple scouts who participated in the 2023 World Scout Jamboree held in South Korea in August have applied for refugee status in the country, sources said Thursday.

The applicants, mostly underage but also including adults, had applied for refugee status with the government as soon as they arrived in South Korea for the global event, according to the legal sources.

The sources said that last Thursday they underwent an education program for refugee applicants provided by the justice ministry's immigration support center.

This year's World Scout Jamboree, held from Aug. 1-12 in Saemangeum, a reclaimed land area on the southwestern South Korean coast, had brought together some 43,000 adolescent scouts and scout leaders from 158 countries.

A justice ministry official confirmed that some jamboree participants sought refuge with the government but declined to disclose the number of people or their nationalities.

The ministry plans to make a decision on whether to grant the application after conducting the necessary screenings. (Yonhap)