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2 STAFF
STAFF PAGE ADVISOR MS. CAROLYN BROWN LAYOUT JAY CHUNG JEANNE HAN EUGENE KIM JOSHULYNE PARK MILTON YOON
REPORTERS CELINE HWANG JEESEOB JUNG RACHAEL LEE ASHLEY KIM SANGWON KIM BONA KOO HELEN SONG CHUNGHO SUH YASMIN YOON
GRAPHICS JULIE CHUNG CHRIS LEE LINDA PARK EUNA SUN WINSTON YOO
LAYOUT EDITOR- JASMINE PARK GRAPHICS EDITOR- AMY CHOI MANAGING EDITOR- JONATHAN YUN ASSISTANT EDITOR- ELIZABETH SONG
EDITORS-IN-CHIEFEUNICE LEE & SEAN KIM
IN-ZONE
GETTING TO KNOW BY ELIZABETH SONG Since a majority of SEOMUN delegates are from South Korea, many already know Ban ki-moon as the current Secretary General (SG) of the United Nations (UN). News of his promotion in 2007 was such a popular topic of discussion and a source of pride for the country that it is uncommon to find a South Korean who is still unaware of his position in the UN. On the other hand, information about Edward Luck, Special Adviser of the Secretary General, is not considered “common knowledge,” even though he deserves more attention for fulfilling such vital
EL MUNDO BY JONATHAN YUN
Amidst the economic problems in Greece that have affected other nations worldwide, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced his decision to put off referendum plans on the bailout of Greece. This decision came out minutes after the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou stated that he would not step aside on the bailout plan, even though his opponents recommended that he do so. Papandreou’s former comment was a response to Antonis Samaras, leader of Greece’s New Democracy party and Papandreou’s opposition, who stated that he would bolster
roles. Here is a brief biography on Mr. Luck: SG Ban appointed Mr. Luck to this position on Feb. 21, 2008 and gave him the task of developing proposals regarding the conceptual development and consensus building for the General Assembly. Before he came into the UN, he was involved in many international affairs. For example, he was the former vice president and Director of Studies of an independent policy research institute, the International Peace Academy and the Director of the Center on International Organization. Even before he went to
Columbia University in 2001, he served as the founder and Executive Director of the Center for the Study of the International Organization. His experience serving in leadership positions eventually proved useful in the UN. From 1995 to 1997, he was a key player in the UN reform process as a Senior Consultant to the Department of Administration and Management of the UN and as an adviser to the President of the General Assembly, Razali Ismail, on his proposals for Security Council reform. When he is not occupying himself with UN issues, Mr.
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Luck spends his time writing books on the UN and politics. His most recent works include The UN Security Council: Practice and Promise, International Law and Organization: Closing the Compliance Gap and Mixed Messages: American Politics and International Organization. Like most other members, Mr. Luck is clearly a qualified and experienced figure whose work in the UN should not go unnoticed by student MUN delegates.
GREEK PRIME MINISTER
CANCELS PLANS for referendum on bailout
the bailout plan as long as Papandreou was not involved. Countries have replied with mixed reactions. “If the [Papandreou] can take full responsibility of help Greece recover, USA would congratulate such undertaking,” said Jason Huh, the delegate of USA in Security Council. “However, there is the risk of the prime minister not doing much good. Right now, I am skeptical about his action since his past actions have not helped.” Sooyun Kim, delegate of Germany in Special Conference, maintains that Papandreou’s decision is question-
able. “[Papandreou] should not overlook that his refusal to step aside can cause economic downturns throughout Europe, where the economies of many nations [in the Eurozone] are highly dependent on each other,” said Sooyun. Samaras also called for Papandreou, who will be facing a motion of no confidence later today, to step down and elect a new leader through snap elections, which are voting procedures that take place earlier than usual. Delegates, such as Heemin Kim, delegate of Portugal in Security Council, advocated this proposal.
“Portugal is deeply concerned with the crisis of the Greek economy and the possible threats it could impose on other member states as well,” said Heemin. “Amidst this situation, I believe that it is crucial that the prime minister voluntarily abdicate from his power for the better good. If the prime minister does not resign, there are dangers of possible protests against the government by the civilians.” Greece has been tangled in a debt crisis ever since last year, sparking protest across the nation. According to Time magazine, many nations worldwide are in fear of an economic de-
4 POINT of INTEREST
UN
draws conclusion on Libya’s weapons
BY RACHAEL LEE The UN Security Council is concerned about the destination of the weapons stockpile in Libya, as it may end up in the possession of al-Qaeda and other rebel groups. All members were in favor of Russia’s resolution, which addressed the threat of the weapons stock and stressed Libya’s responsibility for maintaining peace after liberation from the Gadhafi regime. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) recently finished its mission on ending attacks on civilians, the Gadhafi regime, and restrictions on providing humanitarian aid, and withdrew from Libya. The stockpile includes shoulder-fired missiles that may still threaten passenger aircrafts, even though they are based on an old Soviet-style model. Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the Chairman of the National
Transitional Council of Libya, brought some problems to light at a news conference. “We have many suggestions on how to locate and control these weapons,” said Abdul Jalil to Euro News. “However, lack of funds prevents us from doing much at this time.” The resolution also called for the new Libyan government to cooperate with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and destroy all chemical weapons and meet the international standards of arms control. The resolution also requested the members to enforce border control and security of the transportation of the weapons. Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the UN, visited Tripoli, Libya on Nov. 3. This unannounced trip commended the Libyan citizens for re-
sisting the Gadhafi regime and establishing a civil government. “We are here together to send our strong support and admiration and respect for all your heroic struggles to achieve democracy and freedom,” said SG Ban to Euro News. “The Libyan people
“We have many suggestions on how to locate and control these weapons. However, lack of funds prevents us from doing much at this time.” - abdul jalil
have shown that they have the skills, resources, determination and will to rise to these challenges.” MUN delegates were also affected by Libya’s recent shift to
democracy. JiSun Yu,delegate of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in Special Conference, shared her stance on future policies. “Since the people have fought for a democracy, this delegate believes that the government must be aware of the people’s needs,” said JiSun. “The country must strengthen the government and allow for gradual changes.” The UN announced that it would continue to support Libya in its journey towards a democratic nation recovering from the Gadhafi regime. “We congratulate the current Libyan leadership for the boldness and courage they have shown so far,” said SG Ban to Euro News. “We urge the Libyan authorities and civil society to continue to show exemplary leadership and create the atmosphere for freedom and prosperity for all.”
Delegates forced to decide between MUN and SAT
BY CHUNGHO SUH
Though the MUN leadership team and advisers do their best to avoid conflicts in schedule, one major obstacle appeared in their plans: the SAT. Both SEOMUN and the SAT were scheduled for Nov. 5, causing dilemmas for several delegates. “I had planned to take the SAT ever since June, but I found out that SEOMUN was planned for the same day,” said Justin Lee, judge in the International Court of Justice. “The president of my committee recommended that I simply reschedule the SAT, but I
decided that taking the test is more important. It is unfortunate that I have to miss part of the verdict I am giving tomorrow, but I’m not just a judge; I’m a student too.” Delegates taking the SAT I would finish their testing around 1:00 and would miss a few hours of the conference. On the other hand, most of the delegates taking the SAT subject test arrived at SEOMUN on time because of their shorter tests. The chairs had to amend their schedules due to these tests. “For the final day, the de-
bates do not start until 11:00, since most of the delegates will be finished by 10:30,” said Jenna Kwon, assistant president in the Advisory Panel. “We are hoping the delegates will make it on time, but if they cannot, we will have to start [the debates] because we do not have much time.” The advisers had already set the dates for the conference, and Korea International School planners found out about the dates in August. The planners knew that they could not change the dates for either SEOMUN or the SATs, thus
left the decision open to students. “In the perspective of a student,” said Hee Jae Choi, the Secretary General, “I believe the dates should not overlap with the SAT test dates, but as a participant of the MUN, I think that someone that enters the conference should know this before and, since the date has already been set, organized and prepared delegates should already know. If you’re someone who is really passionate about MUN and can shift around schedules, I don’t think it should be a problem at all.”
POINT of INTEREST
5
Seoulite editor revisits conference
former
BY SANGWON KIM
The Korea Food for the Hungry International (KFHI) is a Christian non-government organization (NGO) in South Korea. The original Food for the Hungry International (FHI) was founded in 1971 in order to raise awareness of worldwide poverty and hunger. The Korean FHI was founded in 1989, as the first official overseas aid NGO. Not only does it work to support social welfare and host various food and water programs, but it also works on North Korean programs. There are five different legal corporate bodies working together under the KFHI: KFHI, International Development Institute (IDI), Serving Society International, Happiness Sharing and Social Welfare. Stacy Yun, former editor-
in-chief of Seoulite and a SEOMUN veteran, is part of the IDI department in KFHI. Taking a semester’s worth of time off from her college, she paid a visit to this year’s MUN. She was recently employed by the NGO as part of the training department. “We train hunger corps and ministers in preparation for any overseas journeys,” said Stacy. “A recent project we had was a hunger corps training session during the month of October.” Before she was employed, Stacy also applied to many other well-known NGOs in Korea, including the Red Cross, UNICEF, Habitat for Humanity (HFH) and Amnesty International. She received interviews for HFH and KFHI. “KFHI is Christian affiliated, and that kind of appealed
PHOTO BY JULIE CHUNG
to me because I’m an agnostic,” said Stacy. “I wanted to try something new.” As a past SEOMUN participant, she was able to relate her experience and learning to her new career. “Since we are an NGO, knowing world issues other NGO issues is very important,” said Stacy. “By participating in SEOMUN, I was able
to implement what I had practiced in the exhibitions here. As a Seoulite editor, I also had experience with publishing. During a really big event, I was even qualified to design a lot of the brochures and posters for the event using the knowledge I had.” Looking back on her high school life and her MUN career, she offered advice for current delegates. “Although this is a model of the UN, and although students may not take their role or job seriously, I believe that when they actually go out into the ‘real’ world, they realize that all of the skills that they have learned in this conference is actually very helpful,” said Stacy. “SEOMUN was an unforgettable experience, and I hope it is the same for them.”
What makes a good co-submitter?
BY YASMIN YOON Without main-submitters, there would be no resolution to debate about, and without the co-submitters, the mainsubmitters would not have proper support for their reslutions. Co-submitters are expected to prepare and play roles that make the mainsubmitters’ stances clear and strong. The basic preparation for every co-submitter is the same: reading the resolution many times and research. But with every co-submitter, preparation slightly varies. For Jenny Lee, delegate of Guatemala for Special Conference, a friendly relationship is crucial. “It’s important to communicate with the main submitter thoroughly so that there is no confusion.” said Jenny. “It’s almost like an alliance.” On the other hand, for Jamie Lee, the delegate of France
PHOTO BY JULIE CHUNG
for General Assembly Two (GA2), she feels that all the preparation that co-submitters usually do are not necessary. “I usually listen to what the other co-submitters say and form my opinion from there.” said Jamie. “I either retaliate what they say or make my own stance.” Nevertheless, Madoka Jitsu, delegate of Kuwait in GA2,
stressed the importance of articulation and participation when co-submitting. “A good co-submitter must be able to emphasize one’s points,” said Madoka. “Also they should actively engage in the debate, clearly stating one’s opinion.” For Soyeon Kim, delegate of Canada in Human Rights Council (HRC), a co-submit-
ter’s cooperation skills are the most vital. “A co-submitter must be able to defend one’s resolution against the opposition, this goes without saying.” said Soyeon. “But also be willing to make amendments when necessary, only after trying one’s best to defend it.” In the end though, it is most important to convince the co-submitter with a strong resolution so that he or she can clearly show support for the main-submitter. According to Jamie, a resolution should be rational and realistic. “Detail and specifics is always encouraged and a musthave for every resolution.” said Jamie. “But it must still have a little bit of ambiguity to be a little flexible. It is important that a resolution can be implemented to all country’s stance, especially mine.”
6 COMMITTEE
SPC delegates and their enthusiasm BY BONA KOO With a sense of excitement in the air, delegates of the Special Conference (SPC) took their seats to start their first debate of the year. This year, SPC is focusing on the issues of technology and cybercrime. After the roll call, delegates proceeded by proposing their arguments and expectations in their opening speeches. “Internet access is necessary for the education and development of nations,” said Hannah Birmingham, delegate of France. “The delegate of France hopes to provide solutions to decrease censorship and allow developing nations Internet access. I am also excited for a fruitful debate.” Cameron Zeluck, delegate of Costa Rica, spoke on a slightly different but related issue of cybercrime. As another co-submitter for the resolution of the delegate of Venezuela, Cameron tried to argue points
to pass their resolution. “The delegate of Costa Rica believes that cybercrime is a problem that should be paid attention to,” said Cameron. “This delegate hopes that the government only develops technology through peaceful means and policies and the
PHOTO BY JULIE CHUNG
resolutions passed can benefit everyone.” Once the delegate of Costa Rica’s opening speech came to an end, Sangwoo Kim, the delegate of Venezuela, stepped
up to the podium as the mainsubmitter and commenced debate on his resolution, which aimed to deter cybercrime and ensure better accountability on the Internet. “The delegate of Venezuela is aware that nations around the world are undergoing problems with controlling the use of the Internet in crime usage and is also aware that many possible solutions have arisen in order to solve these problems,” said Sangwoo. “This delegate encourages others to keep in mind that careful monitoring is essential to prevent further issues of cybercrime.”
Nevertheless, the delegate of Turkey spoke against the resolution, citing its ineffectiveness to vagueness. “This delegate would first of all like to praise the delegate of Venezuela for writing this resolution,” said Joe Kim, the delegate of Turkey. “However, this delegate believes that the resolution is too broad and has a lack of evidence.” Joe’s point of information against the resolution was followed by more criticisms, and despite its strengths the delegate of Venezuela’s resolution failed to pass. “Usually, the first resolution fails because everyone is so enthusiastic to participate,” said Christina Suh, Deputy Assistant President. “Concerning the delegate of Venezuela’s resolution specifically, I think it was a bit too idealistic and sometimes didn’t consider privacy issues.”
General Assembly delegates engage in proactive debate
BY CELINE HWANG AND YASMINE YOON Heated debates regard- to follow the safety standard,” ing the delegate of Afghani- said Min Woo Sun, delegate stan’s resolution on the safety of Afghanistan. “Operative of nuclear power plants took Clause 2 calls upon the World place in General Assembly 1. Association of Nuclear OpWhile some delegates were erators (WANO) to moniin favor of the resolution, tor power plants. Operative others decided that it was Clause 4 calls upon nations too vague and did not focus to cooperate with the Internadescribing specific actions tional Atomic Energy Agency needed to resolve the issue. and the WANO to ensure the “This resolution does not safety of nuclear power plants.” deal with media or what acAlex Son, delegate of Ghana, tions will be taken when also pointed out that the resoa natural disaster occurs,” lution included several fundasaid Brian Lee, delegate of mental flaws that needed to be Cote D’Ivoire. “It also does resolved before it could pass. not offer strong enough in“The resolution could be centives that will convince improved by removing the all countries to follow it.” operative clause due to the Min Woo Sun, delegate fact that it violates the right of Afghanistan and the of the people in sub clause main-submitter of the reso- E,” said Alex. “It also starts lution, responded to these an issue of national sovercriticisms during the debate. eignty in sub clause C when “Although some say the it states that several nations resolution is vague, operative are prevented from constructclause 1 encourages nations ing nuclear power plants.
The delegate of Netherlands was one of the first delegates to express a strong approval for the delegate of Afghanistan’s resolution. “This delegate is in favor of the operative clause since measurements should be taken regarding nations who are not willing to comply to the safety standards,” said Benjamin Kim, delegate of the Netherlands. Ultimately, the resolution failed to pass with 10 delegates voting for, 7 abstaining and 34 against. Meanwhile, in General Assembly Two, the debates intensified as Kevin Chun, delegate of Macedonia, opposed the resolution submitted by Paul Cho, delegate of Pakistan. This resolution focused on the first issue, which aimed to mitigate the global stock sell-off and its impact on the world. “There are no incentives in the resolution,” said
Kevin. “[Also], it requires the involvement of too many NGOs [non-government organization], which results in low levels of cooperation between nations, and it revolved around the LEDCs [Less Economically Developed Countries] too much.” Despite these criticisms, however, the resolution passed with 32 delegates voting for, 18 against, and 3 abstaining. According to Minsuk Terry Kim, president, the debate went smoothly considering it was the first for this year’s conference. “The delegate of Pakistan’s resolution was too broad, which caused problems, but it improved with the many amendments that were submitted and eventually passed,” said Minsuk. “As the debate continued on it grew more intense and there was more participation, which is what we wanted from the delegates.”
COMMITTEE
Advisers work together to modify resolution
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BY ELIZABETH SONG Focusing on the issue of green globalization, the Advisory Panel (AP) debated the effectiveness of advertisement to promote the use of environmentally-friendly resources. Armann Amin-Javaheri, adviser of Liechtenstein, opened up the debate by urging renewable energy companies such as Eco Energy to advertise their products to large corporations via the World Wide web, leaflets, posters, seminars, flyers, billboards and representatives. Hyeong-seok Kim, adviser of the United Kingdom, responded to Armann’s speech by questioning the environmental friendliness of a few of the measures, including flyers, posters and billboards. “From the point of a view of a lot of developed nations, some of the means do not seem eco friendly, such as billboards,” said Hyong-seok. “Although this adviser recognizes
that some of the measures might not be entirely ecofriendly, the clause should still be supported because these analog ways of advertisement are effective in countries that do not have access to electronic means.“ Edward Park, adviser of USA, voiced his agreement with Hyong-seok but emphasized that the clause should be more specific on how companies could raise awareness of environmentally friendly products. “The adviser of USA concurs with the adviser of UK in that leaflets and means such as these must be implemented to proliferate the use of energy resources in lesser developed countries,” said Edward. “But this adviser also agrees with Mexico in that eco-friendly companies are already advertising their products and that this clause is not viable if it does not elaborate on how
these companies should advertise such products.” To address the issues
BY EUNA SUN
brought up by the other advisers, Esther Yoon, the adviser of France, suggested an amendment to the resolution that would increase the advertisement of products to the general public. “I made this amendment to increase the clarity of this clause,” said Esther. “I thought it would improve the overall effectiveness of the proposed actions.” However, Nina Sabado, the
adviser of World Resource Institute, believed that the amendment was unnecessary. “Increase in advertisement will not make a huge d i f fe re n c e,” said Nina. “Instead of funding such things like advertisement, we should [invest money] into more effective [products] such as solar panels. The UN is supposed to be about going to the core problem, not trying to hit around the bush and [focus on] other things.” Despite Nina’s opposition to the change, the amendment was quickly passed, allowing the committee to move on to its next topic of discussion: education on the benefits of using sustainable resources.
Advocates continue to probe for hOles
BY CHUNGHO SUH Even after a day of heated debate, the advocates of Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) were not finished arguing. They still had a lot more coming, as they presented new pieces of evidence and testimonies from other delegates; their arguments stimulated the judges’ minds once again. The advocates of Greece brought in three witnesses: the delegate of France, the ambassador of the United States and the delegate of Greece. After Greece had rejected the FYROM’s application to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), France had supported the decision, while the US elaborated on a previous case they connected to the current debate.
During the cross-examinations by the advocates of FYROM, the advocates questioned the witnesses, exposing
BY LINDA HEEYOUNG PARK
the flaws of the testimonies. The cross-examination by the advocates was useful for them, as they found several points to build up their case. “Our cross-examinations helped emphasize the points we were making in our own
argument,” said Kevin Han, the advocate of FYROM. “For example, France has continued to say the reason for rejection is that NATO may have difficulties coming to a resolution because of conflicting views, but we proved how conflicting views are always going to exist.” After both sides presented their cases, the judges presented evidence that they found persuasive. By the time the selection process started, the judges had some idea of which side they agreed with. However, the judges continued their work as they filtered out
flawed examples and focused on only the most relevant and effective pieces of evidence provided by the advocates. “The whole ordeal was rather tedious, as most of the judges remained firm with their ideas,” said Ruth Seok, ICJ judge. “However, the stubbornness made the presentations a lot more passionate, and by the end of the whole process, we managed to look at the evidence with new perspectives.” Throughout the whole session, both sides and the judges kept the action going. The judges did not let the heat drop even after the climax of the debate. The advocates will be relieved when the committee finally releases the verdict tomorrow.
8 FOCUS
UNESCO accepts Palestine’s
application to join UN BY JEESEOB JUNG AND CELINE HWANG
Slightly smaller than New Jersey but one of the engineering capitals of the world, Palestine is currently applying for a spot in the UN’s General Assembly (GA). At the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suggested that the UN accept a Palestinian state within pre-1967 borders and called for peaceful marches to support his proposal. Delegates including Abbas visited New York on Sept. 23 to officially discuss the proposal, which was then accepted on Oct. 30. “I am hoping that [Palestine joining the UN] will not cause further conflicts with Israel and the UN,” said Jason Huh, delegate of USA in Security Council. The Israeli-Arab feud has persisted since the late 19th century, when the Jews built their own nation in Palestinian territory, claiming that it was their ancestral homeland. As a result, conflicts sparked between the Jews and the Arabs, who opposed the establishment of the new nation. “These Palestinian-Israeli conflicts in the region will seriously hinder the two nations from coming anywhere close
to attaining positions of high power,” said Joe Kim, delegate of Turkey in Special Conference. “However, I don’t think the global society will reject them.” Throughout the years, the conflicts between Palestine and Israel have been continuing. In a war that lasted from 1947 to 1949, approximately 711,000 Palestinians were forced to leave or were expelled, allowing Israel to conquer 78 percent of Palestinian territory. A few years later in 1967, Israel conquered even more land and was able to occupy the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which comprises a significant length of the coastline along the Dead Sea. Israelis have also committed human rights violations against Palestinians, including repeated beatings of innocent citizens. At times, food and medicine have also been prevented from being imported into the Gaza Strip. This made Palestine’s acceptance into the UN an even more immediate issue. “Palestine should be able to the join the UN so that they can have a wider range of opinions and to make up for
the unjust treatment from the Israelis,” said Chunghwa Suh, delegate of Chad in Special Conference. “It is unfair that the Israelis had control over a lot of land while Palestinians sometimes had to face cruel treatment from them.” Though Palestine has made several attempts to resist oppression from Israel, most of them have proven unsuccessful because the Israeli military has occupied Palestine since 1967. Applying to the UN would be a possible solution for Palestine to break free from the Israeli oppression. “Recognizing Palestine is the only way to a peaceful solution,” said Adam Erickson, MUN adviser. “The conflict between the two countries may continue, but Palestine joining the UN is the first step towards lasting peace.” Nevertheless, Palestine’s UN proposal faced difficulties, one of the major challenges being the US’ unwavering support for Israel. US taxpayers have given Israel more funds than to any other country in the world—approximately $7 million is paid to Israel every day. “I think it will be difficult
for Palestine to join the UN because the US won’t take actions to undermine Israel,” said Jaewon Choi delegate of Ghana in General Assembly 2. “If Palestine becomes a state, it will hurt Israel’s authority but yet at the same time it will give them a voice in the UN.” Despite these difficulties, however, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) accepted President Abbas’ proposal on Oct. 30, inducting Palestine into the organization as its 195th full member. Though, this led to significant financial losses, as UNESCO lost one quarter of its budgets because the US did not pay its $60 million worth of contributions, delegates supported the organization’s ultimate decision. “I am glad that Palestine was accepted into the UN because it is a part of the global community and even though it is involved in so many conflicts, the UN should help them fix their problems so they can work together as a whole,” said SooBeen Hwang, delegate of Kyrgyzstan in General Assembly 1.
FOCUS
INFOGRAPHIC BY RACHAEL LEE
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10 COMMITTEE
HRC brings the resolution to the delegates’ eyes BY JEESEOB JUNG It is common for the issue in the Human Rights Council (HRC) to be about justice for the people—and this time is no exception. Promoting labor rights in the workplace of transnational countries is the theme for the council this year, and the resolution was subject to discussion on Nov. 4. Susan Lee, delegate of Rwanda, started the debate by urging that the number of work hours a day should be limited. However, there were several delegates who opposed the latter part of Susan’s speech. “Not only was the resolution overall ambiguous and unclear, but it was way too reliant on the NGOs [nongovernment organizations],” said Hae-bin Kim, delegate of China. “There are other organizations, too, like the government, which actually has more power than several NGOs combined.”
This point was widely disputed between the delegates for nearly 20 minutes. The debate ended with Albert Kim’s, delegate of Guatemala, question. “Isn’t the job of supporting and helping the labor forces part of the state and country’s job and not the NGOs?” said Albert. Although the meeting mostly went according to the designated order and with the proper MUN conference etiquette, delegates were not allowed to have side conversations with each other because doing so would disturb the current speech being presented. Due to this disadvantage, the delegates have created a system of passing around written notes delivered by the administrative staff. According to Hye Sung Son, President, many delegates were using this note technique to their advantage.
PHOTO BY JULIE CHUNG
“Among the ones that we collected, there were many personal ones unrelated to the debate, which is unacceptable for the conference,” said Hye Sung. “Some of them were
even written in Arabic or Korean.” The very first amendment of the resolution that was confirmed was proposed by Marcus Lee, delegate of Argentina. He suggested that the delegates combine Clause Two and Clause Four into one with two subclauses. All members voted to have the amendment passed. “It is not my first time and therefore not my first SEOMUN conference,” said Marcus. “However, it still felt great that my amendment was accepted by everyone in the council.” Nevertheless, the resolution failed with 45 voting against, 4 for, and 1 abstaining.
International borders for refugees BY RACHAEL LEE As president Leon Jun started roll call, 13 delegates trickled into the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) conference past 9 a.m. Mac Young-hoon Kim, the delegate of Bahamas and the main-submitter of the resolution on creating an international standard in social programs and treatment of refugees, began the debate. “Do not risk compromising means for the good of our own people,” said Mac young-hoon. “Sanitation, medical problems, education and funding problems for refugees can be effectively solved with the proposal.” The delegate accepted a total of two points of information (POIs) despite encouragement from the chairs
to accept more. The mainsubmitter then yielded the floor to Annette Wu, delegate of the Republic of Korea. “This resolution includes a wide range of political measures that are both practical and realistic for all members”, said Annette. “This resolution raises a greater need for education without hurting the refugees’ culture, relieves social tensions between the refugees and hosting country and supplies incentives for more global attention on refugees.” Grace Lee, delegate of Switzerland, requested specific measures for cultural integration of the refugees and incentives on funds for improving the resolution. “Switzerland would be for
this resolution except that it must address the problems of social welfare with illegal immigrants and integrating refugees, said Grace. “Eliminating the clause on integration would improve the resolution.” However, whether to strike clause nine was open to debate. Aspen Wang, delegate of Costa Rica, submitted an amendment to the clause. “Operative clause nine is redundant in itself, as all members do the utmost to try,” said Aspen. “This delegate is for making the resolution as concise as possible.” With Aspen’s support, the amendment passed with 27 delegates in favor and five against. The heated debate was open for a total of 100 minutes, in
which many delegates shared their opinions and requests for further development. Annette offered her plans on convincing other delegates to support the resolution by uniting both less economically developed countries (LEDCs) and developed countries. “Rather than disregarding the LEDCs for their inability to provide for refugees ahead of providing for their own citizens, this delegate plans on emphasizing that this resolution does not enforce LEDCs to carry the whole burden of holding refugees,” said Annette. “But this delegate encourages all members to share the weight with other countries through raised global awareness.”
COMMITTEE
11
Heated debates abound at Six Party BY ASHLEY KIM
At 8:30 a.m. the chairs of Six Party Talks (SPT) informed the delegates that rebels in China had caused an artificial earthquake in Japan, destroying the Fukushima plant. As MUN revolves around the process of finding solutions to real world problems, the sudden introduction of this breaking news allowed the conference to better model an authentic UN debate. In order to address this crisis, an emergency debate began, with several clauses and amendments being added to the cumulative resolution in order to resolve the problem. Nina Stender, delegate of China, stated that China was willing to pay reparations but not as much as Japan demanded. “Since the attack was by an extremist group, and not the Chinese government, it does not reflect the actions or sentiments of our nation as a whole,” said Nina.
Nina also stated making China pay a large sum of reparations could actually
“Japan believes that China should be brought to justice,” said Andrew Om, delegate of
Japan believes that China should be brought to justice, Even if it was not the government that directly perpetrated the event, it does not change the number of people that were negatively affected. - andrew om have negative consequences, since it could cause further tensions between the two nations. Meanwhile, Japan was outraged by China’s response.
Japan. “Even if it was not the government that directly perpetrated the event, it does not change the number of people that were negatively affected.”
Though Japan was not fully satisfied with the resolution, it ultimately passed with 3 voting for, 1 abstaining and 2 against. “The resolution that was passed was not very realistic and there were not many effective benefits that we [Japan] received from it,” said Andrew. Christina Hahn, Assistant President, planned to announce another crisis later in the day. As a result of these impromptu problems that needed to be addressed and the polar viewpoints of the delegates, SPT delegates were forced to spend the day thinking on their feet. The forum was consequently filled with lmany of impassioned speeches. “We only have 18 delegates,” said June Park, delegate of the Russian Confederation, “But because there’s so much shouting it feels like there’s 100!”
Security Council Discusses Funding for IAEA BY SANGWON KIM
The Security Council had a debate concerning the reform of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Delegates had divided opinions on the question of funding the International Atomic Energy Agency. This was part of the very first clause in the resolution. “The IAEA is one of the largest bodies when it comes to regulating nuclear power, also for military uses,” said Aadit Gupta, delegate of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “Not providing funds would be disastrous.” Delegates questioned the vagueness of the clause and arguments. They thought that both the clause and speech did not spec-
ify many points at hand. “The problem with this clause is not so much the problem of giving money. The problem is the phrasing, wording, and vagueness,” said Jason Huh, delegate of the United States. “However, it is an essential reform that I believe needs to be passed.” Other delegates disagreed with funding the organization entirely and stated their opinions accordingly. “The delegate of Nigeria disagrees for the IAEA to ask for an increase in funding for the support of nuclear energy,” said Rachelle Moon, delegate of Nigeria. “The IAEA should promote a more long-term plan to stop
the usage of nuclear energy.” Delegates also chimed in with criticism towards nuclear power in general. “Nuclear waste is very serious because there is no perfect solution on how to treat all the nuclear reactors,” said Heejo Keum, delegate of Germany. “In case of a nuclear spill, people cannot live in these areas for more than 50 years.” The delegates disputed the relationship between funding and safety of nuclear management. “This delegate hardly agrees that the IAEA needs financial support to assure safety. The delegate does not agree with promoting nuclear technology even further,” said
Amanda Li, delegate of Gabon. The supporters of the clause begged to differ. In their opinion, it was the funding that would ensure the safety of nuclear reactors. “Potential accidents would be avoided significantly through funding. It is not a ‘gargantuous’ task to train staff to understand the small nuisances of nuclear power cores,” said Aadit Gupta. “Well funded staffs would reduce the amount of slip-ups considerably.” Although the clause was initially failed, it was retabled and passed with no changes. The final voting procedure ended with 12 votes for and 2 votes abstaining.
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POINT OF INTEREST
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BY BONA KOO Although they have been a part of SEOMUN for only two years, the members of SEOTV have a strong understanding of what they have to accomplish and what they want to offer to delegates. With its way of addressing what happens around SEOMUN during the three days, SEOTV receives much praise from both delegates and advisers. The members strive to cover as much as they can, including situations involving delegates, administrative staff members, and also the advisers. “I didn’t know about
INTO SEOTV
SEOTV before, but after they showed us a clip at the opening ceremony yesterday, I thought they did a pretty good job,” said Kelly Cho, delegate of FYROM in General Assembly One. “Our primary purpose is to give delegates a break,” said Lynn Moon, editor. “Since MUN gets really intense, I feel like our job is to help delegates enjoy their conferences.” Even though some delegates believe that making videos is easier than preparing a speech and a resolution, members in SEOTV work just as hard as the delegates.
“We have a variety of jobs,” said Lynn. “We need anchors to introduce the story, people who make the credits, and those who plan the whole video. It depends on the story to predict when our project will end, but we try to finish in a day to entertain SEOMUN delegates during the three-day conference.” To make the members of SEOTV’s jobs easier, delegates must to cooperate with them; nevertheless, a majority of the delegates give a hard time for the members because they do not want to show their faces on film.
“I understand that delegates are a bit shy in front of the camera, but I wish they can talk more comfortably,” said Jenny Lee, member. “Also, I wish other delegates would respect the interviewee while we’re taking a video.” SEOTV expressed one last hope for the delegates. “We are the eyes and mouths of the delegates,” said Andrew Yoon, a member of SEOTV. “Since everyone is so segregated into different committees, we want them to be able to find out what’s happening outside of their assigned committees.”
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BY ASHLEY KIM There is an image of a typical MUN conference: delegates sitting around debating a resolution while a chair presides over them. But just because there is a single ‘typical’ image, it does not portray all other conferences in the same light; mean that all conferences work in the same way, and each forum operates according to its own unique regulations. Each forum has its own way of debating ranging from the International Court of Justice and the General Assembly to the Security Council and Advisory Panel.
PHOTO BY LINDA HEEYOUNG PARK
PHOTO BY EUNA SUN
PHOTO BY AMY CHOI
PHOTO BY LINDA HEEYOUNG PARK
The Advisory Panel has two different types of delegates: political delegates (countries), and humanitarian delegates (NGOs). The two different delegations each write a single resolution amongst themselves after lobbying, and then the entire panel debates both resolutions clause by clause. This year, the Advisory panel will be focusing on resolving environmental issues.
General Assembly is a forum that more closely follows the typical format of a conference. Each delegate presents detailed, valid arguments to persuade the rest of the forum either to pass or fail a resolution. “Everyone is generally serious and passionate, and there’s not much humor in our forum,” said Sharon Kim, president of General Assembly 1.
The Security Council debates points from each clause before debating the whole resolution. After the debate, the P5 nations—France China, UK, USA, and Russia—can veto the clauses being discussed. They can even veto the entire resolution itself if they feel it is necessary. Only three resolutions can be open to debate at any given time with one resolution for each issue.
The International Court of Justice has one of the most unique debate formats. Instead of having delegates, members are judges. Actual cases presented to the International Court of Justice in the past are submitted to the judges and advocates, who make claims, find legal loopholes and call in witnesses from other forums in order to come to a decision about the fate of the nations.
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