韓国議員、ＢＴＳにＳＯＳ　世界スカウト大会混乱で

【ソウルＡＦＰ＝時事】韓国で行われているボーイスカウト・ガールスカウトの祭典「世界スカウトジャンボリー」で８日、台風の接近を受け、参加者数万人が避難を開始した。これを受け、同国の国会議員が人気音楽グループ「ＢＴＳ（防弾少年団）」にＳＯＳを出した。（写真は資料写真）
　世界スカウトジャンボリーは先週、全羅北道で開幕。約４万３０００人が参加していた。しかし、猛暑による体調不良者が続出した上、衛生環境も劣悪とされた。さらに台風接近に伴い、主催者はキャンプ場の運営を完全に中止し、８日にはソウルと周辺地域に参加者が移動を開始した。
　大会をめぐり混乱が続く中、ソン・イルジョン議員は、現在兵役に就いているＢＴＳのメンバーに休暇を与え、短期間だけ活動を再開させるべきだとフェイスブックに投稿した。
　同大会に参加するため世界中から集まり、足止めをされている大勢の１０代のスカウトのためにＢＴＳは公演すべきで、「大事な参加者のため、韓国文化の力でスケジュールの穴を埋める必要がある」と主張している。
　同議員は国防省に対し、参加者のために１１日にソウルで開催されるＫ－ＰＯＰコンサートにＢＴＳが出演できるよう「あらゆる必要な措置を講じる」よう要請したという。ＢＴＳの出演は「韓国の国威発揚につながる」とも訴えた。
　国防省はＡＦＰの取材に対し、「何もコメントすることはない」と回答した。
　ＢＴＳでは最年長のジンさんやＪ－ＨＯＰＥ（ジェイホープ）さんが既に入隊しているほか、シュガさんも間もなく入隊する予定。
　ソン氏の要請に一部ＢＴＳファンは反発している。
　あるファンはＳＮＳのＸ（旧ツイッター）に、「（韓国当局が）自分で招いた混乱の責任をＢＴＳに押し付けるなんてひどい。自分たちが大会準備を怠っていたくせに」と書き込んだ。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/08/09-17:08）

With national embarrassment building over the World Scout Jamboree evacuations, a South Korean lawmaker has issued an SOS to supergroup BTS.
The K-pop megastars are currently on a hiatus with two members -- Jin and J-Hope -- performing their mandatory military service, and another member, SUGA, set to enlist shortly.
South Korea's military should give them a leave pass so they can briefly reunite and perform for the thousands of mostly teenagers from around the world left stranded by the jamboree fiasco, according to lawmaker Sung Il-jong.
For these precious guests, it is necessary to fill the lack of schedule... with the power of Korean culture, Sung wrote on his Facebook page.
He asked Seoul's defence ministry to take all necessary measures to allow BTS to perform at a K-pop concert in Seoul on Friday for the scouts.
Doing so would help elevate South Korea's national prestige.
Sung, also a member of the parliament's national defence committee, said the jamboree had tarnished our country's reputation due to inadequate preparation and poor management.
The defence ministry told AFP that it had nothing to comment on Sung's request.
About 43,000 people had gathered on South Korea's coast last week for the World Scouts Jamboree.
But it was plagued by problems, initially with a heatwave that led to mass sunstroke casualties. Poor sanitation was another problem.
An approaching typhoon led organisers to scrap the campsite proceedings completely this week.
Thousands of students were being evacuated to Seoul and other parts of the country on Tuesday.
Even before the typhoon warning, Korean media had called the jamboree a national disgrace.
But Sung's request prompted angry responses from some BTS fans online.
Please don't use BTS to cover yourselves up! one wrote on Twitter, which is now being rebranded to X.
Isn't it absurd that (the South Korean authorities) are putting the responsibility on BTS to clean up the mess they produced -- by not adequately preparing for the Jamboree? wrote another.
BTS has played a significant role in promoting South Korea's culture, once even serving as the country's presidential envoys.
Last year, they threw a free concert in Busan in support of South Korea's bid to host the World Expo 2023 in the southern port city.
It was their last concert as a group before the members started joining the army for mandatory military service.