Too Hot for K-Pop as South Korea Scrambles to Save Scout Jamboree

A general view shows the campsite of the World Scout Jamboree in Buan, North Jeolla province on August 5, 2023. (AFP)
A general view shows the campsite of the World Scout Jamboree in Buan, North Jeolla province on August 5, 2023. (AFP)
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Too Hot for K-Pop as South Korea Scrambles to Save Scout Jamboree

A general view shows the campsite of the World Scout Jamboree in Buan, North Jeolla province on August 5, 2023. (AFP)
A general view shows the campsite of the World Scout Jamboree in Buan, North Jeolla province on August 5, 2023. (AFP)

A K-pop music concert scheduled for Sunday at a World Scout Jamboree in South Korea was postponed due to heat safety concerns as the host pressed on with the meet despite extreme temperatures that led three national contingents to pull out.

Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min said the jamboree organizers "accepted the concerns over safety-related incidents" if the show was held on Sunday night. Temperatures at the jamboree site have hovered above 33 Celsius (91.4F).

Hundreds of participants have fallen ill due to the searing heat, prompting complaints from parents over the safety of their children. On Saturday, 132 additional people were treated for heat-related conditions, the jamboree organizers said.

South Korean government and jamboree officials said again the safety of the more than 40,000 participants from 155 countries was their top priority, with more water trucks, air-conditioned spaces, medics and sanitation workers being sent to the site.

But British, American and Singapore contingents continued to leave the jamboree on the Saemangeum reclaimed land project on the west coast on Sunday, moving to other locations in the country, including hotels in capital city Seoul.

Lee told a media briefing that two alternate sites are being reviewed for the K-pop concert, which is now rescheduled for the eve of the closing of the scouting meet on Aug. 12.

The lack of shaded areas and inadequate water supply, food service and sanitation facilities prompted civic groups, parents and the World Organization of the Scout Movement to recommend on Saturday that the event be wrapped up early.

But the jamboree host and the government of South Korea said they had consulted with participating scouting contingents and decided the jamboree should continue.

Jacob Murray, director of world events for the World Organization of the Scout Movement, said at the media briefing there had been "increased improvement" in site conditions after additional resources were made available.



Sony Reveals Cast for Four ‘Bingeable’ Movies about The Beatles

Paul Mescal, from left, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan, and Harris Dickinson, cast members of the upcoming films about The Beatles, speak during the Sony Pictures presentation at CinemaCon on Monday, March 31, 2025, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. (AP)
Paul Mescal, from left, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan, and Harris Dickinson, cast members of the upcoming films about The Beatles, speak during the Sony Pictures presentation at CinemaCon on Monday, March 31, 2025, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. (AP)
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Sony Reveals Cast for Four ‘Bingeable’ Movies about The Beatles

Paul Mescal, from left, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan, and Harris Dickinson, cast members of the upcoming films about The Beatles, speak during the Sony Pictures presentation at CinemaCon on Monday, March 31, 2025, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. (AP)
Paul Mescal, from left, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan, and Harris Dickinson, cast members of the upcoming films about The Beatles, speak during the Sony Pictures presentation at CinemaCon on Monday, March 31, 2025, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. (AP)

Sony Pictures said its big-screen story about The Beatles will be told through four films released in April 2028, each from the perspective of one of the Fab Four.

Director Sam Mendes also revealed the cast for the films on Monday at the CinemaCon industry convention in Las Vegas.

Paul Mescal will play Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson will play John Lennon, Barry Keoghan will play Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn will play George Harrison.

While the groundbreaking British band's rise to fame has been well-chronicled, "I can assure you there is still plenty left to explore," Mendes said on stage to an audience of theater owners.

The four films will be released "in proximity" to each other in April 2028, Mendes said, adding that Sony executive Tom Rothman described it as "the first bingeable theatrical experience."

"Frankly, we need big cinematic events to get people out of the house," said Mendes, who won an Oscar for directing "American Beauty."

Mescal starred in "Gladiator II" and "All of Us Strangers" and was nominated for an Oscar for "Aftersun." Keoghan received an Oscar nomination for "The Banshees of Inisherin."

Dickinson starred in "Babygirl," and Quinn appeared in "Gladiator II" and Netflix hit "Stranger Things."

The four actors appeared briefly on stage dressed in all black and bowed in unison, a hallmark of Beatles performances.

Sony titled the movies "The Beatles: A Four-Film Cinematic Event."

"We are going to dominate the culture that month," said Rothman, the CEO and chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Motion Picture Group.