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Juan Cortez

Senior Dylan Wang, General Assembly II chair, concludes his judgment with the pound of a gavel. The session ends with his final statement.

Representatives of six schools assembled and dispersed into five different committees for a day of Model United Nations (MUN) at Kwangju Foreign School (KFS) on Dec. 9.

This year, the conference implemented a trial in the award selection process. The Secretary-General and chairs collaborated with the director of SKAC-MUN to replace the conventional popular voting process conducted by the delegates themselves. 

Under this revised approach, the session leaders nominated the outstanding and honorable mention delegate certificates. The procedure aimed to secure equity and fairness in judging so that truly qualified diplomats would earn their deserved recognition.

With the new modification, DIS delegates fired up their passion to reach for the high distinctions. “I was really nervous at first, but then because I was already in the Debate Club, I still had an idea of how to talk in MUN and how to try to fight for my opinion. Also, the student coaches and our team helped us get better and gave us lots of feedback after speeches and after rounds as well as during the preparation period that we had,” said Victoria Kang of the General Assembly.

An interesting occurrence sparked conversation among members of Kang’s committee. “There was a student from KIS who represented Saudi Arabia in the General Assembly. He actually showed up dressed like a Saudi Arabian with even a fake mustache and everything. Lots of people said that that could be offensive to someone who belongs to the culture, but he still wore it. Other than that, people were cool with it,” said Lewis Kim, the Delegate of China to the General Assembly. The representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia raised eyebrows when he donned the full attire of the traditional thawb and ghutra.

Another twist added a layer of tension within the Security Council. The Delegate of Iran departed early, and Secretary-General Antonio Navarro filled in to debate his position.

“While he was accurately reflecting his country’s stances, he was neglecting the core value of MUN as the Secretary-General: equity and inclusivity in participation. For me, this was a huge problem as I had difficulties in deciding the awards,” said Matthew Lee, student coach and moderator of the Security Council.

Despite unforeseen circumstances, the conference flowed smoothly, and students shared a day of learning and success. The mentoring from student coaches, especially from chairs Dylan Wang and Matthew Lee, prepared the students well for the competitive day. 

Lee said, “The previous coaches, KD and Ricky, had a profound influence on my journey as an MUNner. They filled me with a new sense of confidence in public speaking and research. Well, Dylan and I wanted to do the same for the rising delegates. We want them to continue their MUN journey with the expertise and grit that this year’s experience has seeded them with.” 

Freshman Ellen Cho said, “I got the honorable mention for General Assembly II, and I was proud to receive that. I think I was quite successful not only because I was kind of lucky to be in the group I wanted to be, but also because I had past experiences in debate.” A rarity at MUN conferences, ninth graders do not typically earn top recognition. But Cho did not break the mold on her own.

“I think I achieved [winning the Best Delegate Award] thanks to the leadership from Leanne, Annie, the student coaches, and a bunch of other people who were already in MUN. They helped us get better and develop our speeches,” said Kang.

The DIS delegation won seven out of ten awards. Busan Foreign School won two, and Handong International School won one thanks to honorable chairs and student coaches Matthew Lee and Dylan Wang. After this great season, motivated delegates continue to participate in various invitationals throughout Korea. 

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Resolutions passed: Aiden Chae, Jayden Hayward, Chris Ryu, Aaron Shin, Leanne Yoon

Best and Outstanding Delegate Awards: Annie Cho, Ellen Cho, Colin Ji, Apple Jun, Victoria Kang, Aaron Shin, Leanne Yoon