[1/5] Participants gather under the shade as they prepare to leave the camping site of the 25th World Scout Jamboree in Buan, South Korea, August 8, 2023.
REUTERS/Kim Hong-JiBUAN, South Korea, Aug 8 (Reuters) - South Korea on Tuesday started evacuating thousands of teenage participants at the World Scout Jamboree from a campsite in the southwest of the country to safer areas mainly around the capital Seoul ahead of an approaching typhoon.
Typhoon Khanun, which has already wreaked havoc in southern Japan, is expected to hit southern areas of South Korea on Thursday before tracking up the peninsula, bringing strong winds and rain, according to weather forecasters.
Seoul and its surrounding province of Gyeonggi would host more than 16,000 scouts, with others fanning out to six other areas of South Korea, he said.
Poland is due to host the next World Scout Jamboree in 2027, but President Andrzej Duda cancelled plans to visit the event in South Korea this week due to the typhoon, an official at the Polish Embassy in Seoul said.
Persons:
Kim Hong, Ji BUAN, Khanun, Lee Sang, Ahmad Alhendawi, Yoon Suk, Andrzej Duda, Hyunsu Yim, Hyun Young Yi, Ed Davies, Sonali Paul
Organizations:
REUTERS, Tuesday, UK Scouts, Reuters, World Organization of, Scout Movement, Polish Embassy, Games, Japan, South Korean, Thomson
Locations:
Buan, South Korea, Seoul, Japan, Gyeonggi, Poland, Polish, Busan