President Kang, Young-joong attends the 27th Asia-Pacific Regional Scout Jamboree

President Kang has participated in the 6-day APR Regional Scout Jamboree, which was held in Suncheon, Jellanam-do Province of Korea.
Its opening ceremony, which began with the 31st Division Band’s performance, took place at the plaza of a youth camp site at 8 p.m. on August 4, 2010. Many dignitaries including President Kang, Young-joong of KSA, Mayor Roh, Kwan-kyu of Suncheon City, Vice President of the Philippines and Asia-Pacific Regional Scout Committee Chairman H.E. Jejomar C. Binay, Deputy Minister of Korea for Gender, Equality and Family Kim, Kyo-sik, and Vice Governor for Political Affairs Jeong, Sun-nam of Jeollanam-do Province entered the plaza by passing through a rod tunnel. It was followed by a performance by Suncheon City Chorus and the entrance of flag bearers from 42 countries.
The closing ceremony, which was held in the same place at 8 p.m. on August 8, 2010, was participated by 12,000 young scouts between the age of 13 to 18 and leaders from 42 countries. During the Jamboree, all the participants fostered friendship by actively taking part in some 70 venture and pro-environment programs.
Dr. Kang said, “I truly appreciate that all the participants did their best helping each other in these scorching hot days so that we had a safe program all the way through.” And Mayor Roh of Suncheon City said, “the beautiful memories that our scouts made in such a difficult weather conditions including sweltering heat and torrential rain will live forever in the hearts of the participants.”
After the closing ceremony, the scouts went back to the Jamboree site and began removing some of the tents. The remaining tents will be removed in the morning of August 9, and the participants will be returning home on the same day.
The 27th Jamboree, which was co-hosted by the KSA and Suncheon City, was held under the theme of “Warak! Scout Embrace the Earth”. An Environment Forum, which was participated by 120 Korean and foreign youths, was also held on the 7th. For this Jamboree, the KSA has specially invited 41 youths from 25 less developed countries including the Maldives, Nepal and Cambodia and 32 Korean youths from low income families and minor-aged heads of households.

The Korea Scout Association has announced its desire to host the 25th World Scout Jamboree in 2023 and began the preparation efforts including establishing a bidding committee. The World Scout Jamboree is an international camp for young people and is being held every four years. The first World Scout Jamboree was organized in London in 1920, and the decision on the 25th World Scout Jamboree will be made during the 2014 World Scout Conference. Korea hosted the 17th World Scout Jamboree in Goseong, Gangwon-do Province in 1991, and it was attended by 20,000 youths from 135 countries.