The ultimate camping trip - Northern Ireland teens in South Korea for the 25th World Scout Jamboree

It must surely be regarded as the ultimate camping trip. 50,000 teenagers in tents under the stars in the one prime location. On top of that, it's not somewhere anyone would associate with playing host to one of the largest outdoor youth camps on the planet.

Well, South Korea is the venue for the 25th World Scout Jamboree taking place from August 2nd to August 12.

A group of scouts from Northern Ireland is among the young people who have gathered for the ten day event which is more than learning new songs and making friends around the campfire. It’s about adventure, cultural exchange, lessons in leadership and fun. All 10 days of it.

The event is held every four years and involves nearly every country in the world. This year it is in SaeManGeum in South Korea which saw extreme weather conditions from heavy rain to a heatwave on day one.

A spectacular opening ceremony greeted the Scouts who had been preparing for the Jamboree for months.

The Northern Ireland scouts Justin and Zoe were delayed in getting to the start of the activities by heavy rain at the campsite but they said they were looking forward to the experience.

"I feel great. Ecstatic. It's been a very long journey to get here but worth it" said Zoe.

Justin agreed: "It's such an amazing experience," he said.

NI Scout Leader, Josh Dripps said: "Yeah, everybody's really excited for the Jamboree and to finally get here. It's been a long time coming and good to see our young people finally here."

Chief Scout and adventurer Bear Grylls added: "The young people are going to change the world. It will be young people who are going to drive that change to remind us of what brings us together is so much greater than what divides us.".

He added: I think the world has never been more divided and more in need of that scouting spirit, that scouting energy and that scouting goodness."

Already the Scouts have taken a trip to the demilitarized zone - the heavily-fortified border between North and South Korea.

Dwayne Fields is a scout ambassador. He said: " I think it's important that we show young people (the border) because they're going to take the message that we see here back to their communities, back home, wherever in the world that might be. And we can also see how war divides this nation. I think bringing that back and planting that seed for the next generation, probably takes us that further away from war itself ".

All the young people gathered in South Korea have something in common with famous names like Taylor Swift, Hillary Clinton, Stephen Speilberg and Venus Williams.

They too were scouts in their teenage years - all wanting to make a positive difference in the world.