South Korea evacuates thousands of Scouts from coastal campsite as storm nears

Scouts leave the campsite on Tuesday (Na Bo-bae/Yonhap/AP)

Tens of thousands of Scouts began arriving at university dormitories, government and corporate training centres, and hotels around Seoul and other inland cities on Tuesday as the South Korean government evacuated the World Scout Jamboree ahead of a tropical storm.

The South Korean government had scrambled to keep the 12-day gathering of Scouts going in the face of heat, hygiene and land use controversies, as thousands of British and US Scouts departed over the weekend.