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제14기 유엔 전문가 교육 결과보고서 - The 14th UN Headquarters Training Final Report

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Special Thanks to. Group Programmes Unit, United Nations Department of Global Communications AND Permanent Mission of Republic of Korea to the United Nations New York Office, USA


HOPE TO THE FUTURE ASSOCIATION

NGO Representative at the United Nations Department of Public Information Web: www.hopetofuture.org I Address: 4F, Bongeunsa-ro 176, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea Tel: +82-2-6952-1616 I Email: webmaster@hopetofuture.org

Writer and Editor in-Chief Jung A Chelsea PYUN I Programme Officer chelsea@hopetofuture.org

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14TH UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS TRAINING

Program Introduction………………………………………………………………………..…………3 UN Headquarters Training in New York……………………………………………………………3

List of Advisors and Trainees……………………………………….……………………..………..…5 Program Curriculum………………………………………………………..……….…………………11 I. Briefings at the UN Headquarters in New York ……………………………………..…………13 Speakers List .................................................................................................................................... 15 UN Expert Briefings ......................................................................................................................... 17 UN Communications I UNDGC .............................................................................................. 17 Gender Equality I UNDESA..................................................................................................... 37 Sustainable Development Goals I AFICS ................................................................................ 57 Korea and the UN I Permanent Mission of Republic of Korea to the UN............................ 72 Disarmament I UNODA ........................................................................................................... 91 UN Training Photo Gallery ............................................................................................................ 104 UN Careers I Meeting with an intern from UNDGC ...................................................... 105 Permanent Mission of Republic of Korea to the UN ...................................................... 106 Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN ....................................................................... 108 Presentation of Certificates ..................................................................................................... 112

II. Ivy Leagues Tour and Meeting with Current Students …………………………………….114 Columbia University ...................................................................................................................... 114 Yale University............................................................................................................................... 114 Princeton University ....................................................................................................................... 114

Staff Reflections ……………………………………………………………………….…………….…162 Organizations ………………………………………………………..………………..…………….… 170 Host: Hope to the Future Association............................................................................................. 170 Sponsors ......................................................................................................................................... 171 Cooperation Organization .............................................................................................................. 171

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The 14th Training Program at the United Nations Headquarters in New York

Program Introduction

2019 UN Training in New York provides an opportunity to students to examine how well the United Nations carries out its stated aims to maintain international peace and

‘The 14th UN Headquarters Training’ UN Headquarters Training is a professional pedagogical training program customized and developed for the youth to provide an intensive training at the UN Headquarters in New York.

security, protect human

Hosted by Hope to the Future Association, UN DPI associated NGO, the program mainly focuses on the UN’s agenda, Sustainable Development Goals, and global matters dealt by the UN and the member states.

rights, deliver humanitarian aid, promote sustainable development, and uphold international law. In addition, students learn about not only the United Nations but also South Korea’s relationship with the United Nations as they

Having UN high officers and experts with direct experience in the international organization as the main speakers, the program aims to promote better understanding on the global issues and develop multi-perspectives on the UN. The training also provides direct networking opportunities with the UN officials, NGO representatives, and the UN diplomats.

build professional knowledge on pending issues of the international society.

‘The 14th UN headquarters Training’ was organized from the 2nd of August to the 10th, 2019 at the UN Headquarters in New York with 35 youth representatives and university staffs selected from across the country.

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Jin-Hoan CHOUNG President of Hope to the Future Association Greetings! I am Jin-Hoan CHOUNG, the President of Hope to the Future Association. It is my great pleasure to welcome you as participants of ‘2019 UN Headquarters Training.’ The program is specifically designed to foster global capability and promote global competitiveness of the Korean youth. In today’s world, the international mood of South Korea has changed after President Moon and the North Korea’s Kim Jong-un agreed to end hostile actions and work towards reducing nuclear arms at a summit meeting in April 2018. Accordingly, the students should learn about South Korea’s position relative to the UN and gain knowledge about human rights, peace and security, and SDGs to better understand South Korea as well as the international world. This program, which is being held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, guides students to develop their own point of view and helps broaden the perspectives through discussions, debate, and briefings. In this 2019 summer program, participants had a meaningful discussion with the Deputy Permanent Representative Chull-Joo Park regarding the relationship between Republic of Korea and the UN, Korean diplomacy, and foreign policy at Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN. The participants also attended briefings from International organization experts and had meetings with the UN high officials including the officer from UNFPA, which enabled them to obtain multi-faceted perspectives and establish direct experiences with the professionals. Participants were able to develop a profound degree of understanding of the global pending issues and the UN agendas at the 14th UN Headquarters Training Program. We hope experience of UN training program functioned as a cornerstone for broadening the perspectives and established the critical point of view through discussions and presentations with other students from diverse backgrounds. In this regard, the program has provided a solid foundation for the participants to gain academic knowledge and has facilitated opportunities to communicate with participants from around the world with an ultimate goal to construct a cooperative horizon among the youth. “In August 2019, Hope to the Future Association organized ‘2019 UN Headquarters Training’ with focus on human rights, peacekeeping, migration, gender equality, counter-terrorism, and SDGs. In addition, students were introduced to a session on UN Careers and had the opportunity to listen to a briefing by ambassadors at Permanent Mission of Republic of Korea and Switzerland to the United Nations. We hope this 9 days of a program to be the meaningful experience to all of the participants and to be the great opportunity to step forward towards their own dreams. Thank you.

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ADVISOR AND STAFF Head Advisor

Program Manager

Jin-Hoan Choung

Jung A Pyun

Yoon Hee Kang

Jiahn Bae

University Staff

Yoori Cho

You Sun Yang

Soyeon Min

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TRAINEES OF THE 14TH UN TRAINING Chae Hyun Yoo

Chaewon Lee

Dany Kim

Eo Jin Choi

Eo Jin Han

Eunbeen Woo

Gyu Ri Kim

Hajung Cho

Hyejeon Ko

Hyejun Mun

Hyun-Ji Lee

Jun Hyun Kim

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Jeongmin Lee

Jisung Nam

Joosung Kim

Ju Won Kim

Kiwoong Lee

Kyeongmook Lee

Minseong Kim

Minha Lee

Minjin Kim

Sarah Bak

Soohyun Park

Sumin Han

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Yae Lynn Moon

Ye Young Lee

Yeji Shin

Yujun Jung

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Yeojun Yoon


17 GOALS TO TRANSFORM OUR WORLD

“On September 25th 2015, the UN Member States adopted a set of goals to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda. Each goal has specific targets to be achieved over the next 15 years.�

Reference: www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment

The SDGs, build on the success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and aim to go further to end all forms of poverty. The new Goals are unique in that they call for action by all countries, poor, rich and middleincome to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and addresses a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection. While the SDGs are not legally binding, governments are expected to take ownership and establish national frameworks for the achievement of the 17 Goals. Countries have the primary responsibility for follow-up and review of the progress made in implementing the Goals, which will require quality, accessible and timely data collection.

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Reference: www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/be-the-change/

The adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, with its core set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are the UN’s blueprint for achieving a happier and healthier world by 2030. But how do we all manifest these goals in our own lives? The UN’s official SDGs website encourages all people to take action through a guidebook “The Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World.” According to this guide, there are three levels, which you can accomplish in order to participate in achieving SDGs. The guide suggests some easy things people can adopt into our routines: Things that people can do from their couch, home, community and work. There are easy points that, if we all do it, will make a big difference to change our planet. The ‘Be the Change’ initiative provides an opportunity for all of us to better “walk the talk” when it comes to the SDGs. This initiative guides and encourages us to live more sustainable in work and at home by changing our consumption patterns, using active transport such as cycling, and buying local foods. Everyone is welcome to participate. Every little step helps – inform your family, your friends and your community about simple actions they can take in their daily lives.

“End extreme poverty. Fight inequality and injustice. Fix climate change. The Sustainable Development Goals are important, world-changing objectives that will require cooperation among governments, international organizations and world leaders. It seems impossible that the average person can make an impact. Should you just give up? No! Change starts with you! Every human on earth-even the most indifferent, laziest person among us- is part of the solution and make a great impact”

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PROGRAM CURRICULUM

Yale University Campus Tour Discussion with Yale University Student Aug 3

Princeton University Campus Tour Discussion with Princeton University Student

Columbia University Campus Tour Aug 4

Discussion with Columbia University Student The Metropolitan Museum of Art Tour

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Theme (2) United Nations Headquarters Training Program Briefings at the UN were coordinated in cooperation with the Group Programmes Unit, Visitors Services, United Nations Department of Global Communications (UNDGC) Date

Theme Korea and the UN

Aug 5

Aug 6

Aug 8

Permanent Mission of Korea to the UN

Gender Equality

Department of Economic and Social Affairs

UN Communications

UN Department of Global Communications

UN Careers

UN Department of Global Communications

SDGs

Association of Former International Civil Servants

Climate Change

Association of Former International Civil Servants

UNHQ Aug 7

Lecture Organizations

UN Visitors Services

Legal Affairs

UN Office of Administration of Justice

Disarmament

UN Office for Disarmament Affairs

Switzerland and the UN

Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN

Final Wrap-up

Team Presentation on the UN and the SDGs

Completion

Presentation of Certificates and Awards

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    

 

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UN HEADQUARTERS SPEAKERS LIST

Korea and the United Nations Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations CHULL-JOO PARK overseas.mofa.go.kr/un-

Deputy Permanent Representative

ko/index.do

Switzerland and the United Nations Permanent Mission of the Switzerland to the United Nations https://www.eda.admin.ch/missio

DOMINIQUE FAVRE

ns/mission-new-

Deputy Permanent Representative

york/en/home.html

Gender Equality United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) HAMID RASHID Chief of Development Research Branch, Economic Analysis and Policy Division

www.un.org/development/desa

UN Communications United Nations Department of Global Communications (UNDGC) PETER DAWKINS Chief of United Nations Web Services Section

www.un.org

Sustainable Development Goals Association of Former International Civil Servants (AFICS) ABRAHAM JOSEPH careers,un.org

Director, International Economic Development Policy and Practice

.

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Climate Change United Nations DONALD LEE Former, Social Perspectives on Development Branch in the Division for Social Policy and Development of DESA

www.un.org

Legal Affairs United Nations Office of Administration of Justice (UNOAJ) HYO JIN BAE Legal Officer

www.un.org

Disarmament United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) AARON JUNHOUNG YOO

https://www.un.org/disarmament

Political Affairs Officer

UN Careers United Nations Department of Global Communications (UNDGC) HYUNJO GOH Intern, Advocacy and Special Events Section, News and Media Division

www.un.org

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- Table of Contents 1.

2. 3.

4.

5. 6.

Definition & Purpose/UNIC a. Definition and Purpose of UNDGC b. United Nations Information Center Role a. What they do Divisions a. Strategic Communications Division b. News and Media Division c. Outreach Division Partnership and Supporters a. UNEP b. Public Awareness Campaign c. UNICEF Campaign d. “ACT NOW” e. Anchor Partners - ‘Sony Pictures’ f. ‘Impact 2030’ & SDG 2 Advocacy Hub’ g. UN Messengers of Peace Conclusion Q&A

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“Why does the United Nations need the Department of Global Communications?” This is the fundamental question for understanding what this department actually does. Since its founding in 1946 and mobile ever since, the UNDGC (United Nations Department of Global Communications) served many purposes in and out of the United Nations in general. Through this question in mind this report may be served to better navigate the path of defining this department’s existence. 1. Definition and Purpose / UNIC - Yeji Shin The UNDGC, or the United Nations Department of Global Communications, was founded in 1946. Previously it was known as the Department of Public Information (DPI), and the Head of Department is Ms Alison Smale. As the UN brought different countries together with a shared goal of discussing global issues and making the world a better place, it was vital to create a moderate forum for all countries around the globe to aid our community together. The purpose of establishing the Department is to promote recognition and understanding of the United Nations worldwide. Across many global platforms, UNDGC is in charge of spreading the story of the United Nations both digitally and traditionally. Even though most of the data is spread by mobile or computer devices using the internet, organizing activities at the local communities through newspapers or radios could be a classic example of delivering information to countries with less technology in a traditional manner. By doing so, the UNDGC is able to bring all countries together and build support in order to contribute to the work of the United Nations. As the ultimate purpose of the United Nations is leading to inter-country harmonization and successfully resolving global agendas, the importance of UNDGC is thoroughly emphasized. Despite the purpose of the world-wide spread of the information related to the UN, spatial and linguistic limitations cannot be ignored. As a variety of languages and countries exist, the United Nations Information Centers (UNICs) are located in 60 countries using over 80 languages with local audiences. These informative offices built in many countries enable UNDGC to interact with millions of people around the globe and deliver the UN’s objective information with more ease using each country’s own language. Not only having lower language barriers, but UNIC also has great merit that they can highlight the influence of the UN with greater impact. The centers adapt to the UN’s global campaigns to the local context, and this helps to give people a sense of closeness and intimacy. Specializing the way to efficiently engage with people suited for each country is a prominent path the UNDGC takes in an attempt to effectively communicate with these communities. Relating to the United Nations Information Centers and communicating in more than 80 languages embodies the United Nations’ principle of multilingualism. In order to pursue harmonious communication among different people using different languages, multilingualism ensures an effective and high rate of participation of all in the UN’s work, along with better outcomes and greater effectiveness. Six official languages of the 19


United Nations are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish, and UNIC fully embodies the principle of multilingualism.

2. Role – Eunbeen Woo The Department of Global Communications, formerly known as the Department of Public Information (DPI), was established in 1946 by General Assembly Resolution 13(l) to promote international awareness and understanding of U.N. affairs. The department performs this through a wide range of activities. For example, they designate The World and open DESA film festival or Launch Fashion challenges, including multilingual new and information production, the use of up-to-date technologies, multimedia and social media platforms, conducting communication campaigns on priority issues, and conducting promotional activities with various partners. The Department reports annually to the United Nations General Assembly Committee, which is responsible for overseeing our work and providing guidance on policies, programs and activities. The global communications department is dedicated to conveying the ideals and work of the United Nations to the world, by interacting with and cooperating with various audiences, and building peace, sustainable development and support for human rights for all. The Strategic Communications Department establishes and executes communication strategies

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for priority issues and initiates a global campaign. It also manages the global network of 60 U.N. intelligence centers .News and media departments produce and share news and information with the organization of the United Nations and other target audiences. It supports the work of journalists and news organizations covering the United Nations. The Outreach Department encourages support for the ideals and activities of the United Nations by engaging and educating people and communities around the world.

3. Divisions - Eo Jin Han UNDGC is working with its three divisions: a. Strategic Communications Division The first division is the Strategic Communications Division which is also called as SCD. The Strategic Communications Division is responsible for communication of the United Nations to achieve its goals, and it works by creating and working for global information campaigns that supports organization on United Nations issues. They cover Peace and security section, the sustainable development section, Palestine, Decolonization and Human Rights section, and Africa section in campaigns. The SCD works on Peace and Security Section for preventive diplomacy and mediation, peacekeeping, peacebuilding, disarmament, counter-terrorism and migration. They design and manage the implementation of global communications strategies. They produce, disseminate, and content, undertake outreach and promotional activities in partnership with UN peace operations and political affairs. They work closely with UN partners in order to support UN peacekeeping and special political missions’ communications by developing policy guidance, training, and advising during crises. Sustainable development section is utilized to guide the UN’s work to boost economic prosperity and social well-being while protecting the environment. This section supports for action on issues such as climate change, gender equality, and global public health. They engage partners in order to mobilize awareness of

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a range of sustainable development issues and their affect to different populations, from the ageing to people with disabilities, and different group of countries, including the most vulnerable. They work closely with all UN partners for coordinated and impactful campaigns. Palestine, Decolonization and Human Rights section promotes on human rights, the rule of law, decolonization and indigenous people. It raises awareness around UN observances on issues by carrying out the Departments’ special information program on the question of Palestine or mobilizing partners when celebrating Nelson Mandela International Day. They partner with Member States and NGOs to mark the International Day of Reflection on the 1994, Genocide against the Rutsil in Rwanda and educate present and future generations on its lessons to help prevent similar act in the future. The Africa Section is aiming of the New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development. They work closely with the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa and the Economic Commission for Africa. Africa and the international community as well as with the media in Africa and beyond to highlight the work of the UN, Africa and the international community to foster peace and development. SCD also advise on reputation management and crisis communications. This Division administers network of 60 United Nations Information Centres around the world. These centres promotes greater public understanding for the aims and activities of the UN. It translates information into more than 80 local languages and organize events that highlight issues or observances to diffuse United Nations’ aims and activities. b. News and Media Division The second division is the News and Media Division which is also called as NMD. The News and Media Division works with partners in global media and spreads information on the United Nations and its work. They disseminate using various formats including television, radio, and Internet. They provide live coverage through video, audio, and still images from important events. The News and Media Division (NMD) produces news and features about the United Nations and its priorities, including daily print, audio, television, video, photo, digital, and social media content in 6 languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). They generate timely, accurate, impartial and freely available information about the United Nations activities around the world and provide a wide range of services. UN News, UN Video, Coverage and Media Services, UN Television, and UN Webcast are those services. UN News is the United Nations multilingual news portal filled with UN-related issues. UN Video reports from UN Headquarters in New York and around the world, with footage direct from humanitarian crises

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and peace operations, and through a variety of formats, from short documentaries to social media and news videos, that put a human face on the crucial issues of our times.

Coverage and Media Services The Meetings Coverage Section produces an array of essential materials for the media, delegations and the general public, in English and French, including comprehensive summaries of official UN meetings and conferences. UN Television covers events happening at UN Headquarters in New York and Geneva and at many major UN global conferences and distributes broadcast-quality feeds to media organizations. UN Webcast provides live and on-demand streaming coverage of United Nations meetings and events directly to a global audience through multiple platforms and mobile devices. c. Outreach Division The third division is Outreach Division which is also called OD works to advance global dialogue between academia, civil society, the entertainment industry, educators and students to encourage support for the goals of the United Nations. This Division serves the broadest audience through special public events, publications, services for visitors including guided tours through the UN Visitor Centre, Library services. Advocacy and Special Events, Education Outreach, NGO Relations and Liaison service, Sales and Marketing of United Nations Publications, Publications and Editorial, Knowledge Solutions and Design, Visitors Services, and UN Exhibits are included too. Advocacy and Special Events We raise awareness about the issues and work of the United Nations through creative partnerships with the media, non-profit organizations and the entertainment industry, specifically via the Creative Community Outreach Initiative, Messenger of Peace Programme and Special Events Unit.

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Education Outreach We produce learning materials and organize educational events on the United Nations for students, teachers, academics and the public, to build long-term support for the Organization. We manage the United Nations Remember Slavery Programme and The Holocaust and United Nations Outreach Programme, and work with civil society to promote the International Day of Peace. We also help bring global Model United Nations activities in line with actual United Nations rules and procedures.

NGO Relations and Liason Service We develop partnerships with civil society around the world to enhance their interaction with and understanding of the work of the Organization. It currently collaborates with 1,500 NGOs associated with the Department and reach out to and exchange information with civil society on UN issues. Sales and Marketing of United Nations Publications the United Nations publishes approximately 500 new titles a year on topics such as peace and security, human rights, the global economy, international law, environment and climate change. Publications and Editorial We produce authoritative and digitally accessible publications on the main activities, concerns and ideals of the United Nations. Knowledge Solutions and Design We develop and provides visual branding for UN global communications and strengthen internal communications through the UN intranet, iSeek. Visitors Services the UN Visitors Centre manages the guided tours, public inquiries and speakers’ bureau briefings to provide memorable and meaningful visits. UN Exhibits the United Nations Headquarters in New York hosts new photographic and multimedia exhibits every month. The exhibits are free to the public and feature issues related to sustainable development, human rights, and peace and security. 4. Partnerships and Supporters a. UNEP – Joosung Kim One attempt from the UNDGC with the help and cooperation of the UNEP (UN Environmental Programme) is the #BeatPollution campaign. It is a simple survey on the UNEP organization web page that requires you to sign in and take a pledge that you will become aware of the issue of pollution. Then when you become one of the 2,431,713 people worldwide who signed this pledge, you can select more actions you may choose to do on your own to save the planet: the more actions you choose, the higher your status becomes in saving the environment. One such action is “Eat less meat and more organic and unpackaged foods”. The meat itself is the prominent component of the ongoing air, water, and soil pollution, while packaged foods create more trash, thus leading to worldwide pollution.

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Such campaigns are not only easy to participate but it lets you become aware of the situation. The ones who signed the pledge also become more entitled to have the responsibility to let others know of the currently dire situation of the world we live in today. Without even the smallest of measures taken by everyday people in everyday lives, the world will be beyond redemption. Another campaign is the Public Awareness campaign. The Fostering and Communicating Sustainable Lifestyles Report state 16 different initiatives worldwide in hopes of solving the pollution issue, with 8 objectives each initiative has in an attempt to improve the conditions of the planet’s environment. According to UNFCCC Article 6 on public awareness, these initiatives became the cornerstone of some of the largest and the most prominent campaigns throughout the world for improving the pollution crisis. In general, these measures help create small campaigns that target the general, everyday life-living people who are too busy to excessively care about the planet itself and large campaigns aiming a more vast amount of people such as a city and country community to change major flaws of the pollution problem.

b. UNICEF – Kiwoong Lee On the eve of the World Water Day, UNICEF stated that the push to bring safe water to millions of people around the world, especially the developing countries, will be even more challenging due to climate change. It threatens both water supply and water safety for children living in areas of drought and regions with serious food shortage issues. At the end of the millennium of the 2015 development goal era, all but 663 million people around the world had drinking water from improved sources - supposedly in need of separating water from contact with excreta. However, the data from newly available testing technology indicate that an estimated 1.8 billion

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people may be drinking water contaminated by E-coli bacteria, fecal material-infesting organisms in their water. This issue is also observed in semi-developing countries. The safety concerns are rising due to climate change. When water becomes scarce during droughts, populations resort to unsafe surface water. At the other end of the scale, floods damaging water and sewage treatment facilities and the spread of bacteria-filled feces leads to an increase in waterborne diseases such as cholera and diarrhea (an infectious disease that causes severe watery diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration and even death if untreated). It is caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with a bacterium called Vibrio cholera. Schools for Africa’s campaign sponsored by UNICEF, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Hamburg Society, experienced a major boost in funds and influence to help millions of children receive a proper education. They announced a raise in more than $50 million for its schools for Africa campaign, exceeding its initial target. UNICEF and its partners signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in New York, expanding their support to help millions of children for them to receive a quality education. The partnership was initiated in 2004 to raise money as an attempt to help over four million children in Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

The initiative aimed to provide safer and protective access to a learning environment for children, and it reached its goal of raising $50 million per year in advance. The program has amassed $71 million to date. Brazil continued to face critical political and economic situations throughout 2017, along with extremely high rates of crime and violence (an estimated 60,000 homicide victims in 2017, including more than 10,000 teenagers. Few high-level officials involved in current and former presidents face corruption charges, while

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a significant number of politicians have been sentenced to jail. Despite all these issues, Brazil is showing its first signs of recovery; economic growth was estimated by the World Bank at 1.0 percent and forecast to reach 2.0 percent in 2018. However, this crisis, which led to a decrease in GDP per capita from the $13,416 in 2011 to the $8650 in 2016, with conjunction including rigid budget restrictions, could as well hamper social development and related programs despite its recovery after one of its worst recessions in history. In the 2017 Consensus of the UN, the Smurfs were promoting the UNICEF campaign for the Sustainable Development Goals, more precisely the right for children to receive education and health. Although it is difficult to declare the campaign a success, the UN was able to learn from their past actions and are continuing to spread influence in raising awareness in this crisis, such as the UNDGC’s campaign in SDGs with the Angry Birds. c. SDGs – Joosung Kim Usually, when the general public thinks of saving the planet, they believe that they are too small a person to create major changes that would truly impact the world and the planet itself. People just shrug, thinking either of the two things: one, they think their actions are too feeble to create change; two, they believe their actions impact the planet in such a small portion that contributes to the global climate change effect. “This is not true.”

First, there are many requirements people can accomplish to save the environment; they don’t have to be something active and requires a lot of work. One does not have to clean the whole neighborhood to create change in the climate of the planet. It a minor change in everyday routine, such as the following: walk or ride a bike to nearby areas instead of driving a car; use public transportation; take less than five minutes in the shower; turn off the lights of any unused light stands when not using them; turn on the air conditioner at a moderate temperature, and use the fan more often compared to the air conditioner; eat plants, not meat; etc. Such minor actions can eventually become one giant step for mankind in saving the planet. Moreover, the immense effect of the everyday life of many people can generally cause significant effects on the global climate. The small carbon footprints created by many people surely accelerated the amount of

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change in the climate increasingly proportional to the industrial revolution era. This evidence supports the claim that every small action matters, which also means that making the world a better place to live can become realized in the near distant future. These ideas are clearly stated in the UNSDG (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) agendas, especially the ones that affect the environment, the climate, and the planet as a whole. Since every action matters and every effort counts, even the laziest of people can do a minor everyday routine to save the planet without even realizing them.

d. “ACT NOW” - Ye Young Lee Climate change is an ongoing urgent global issue and is recognized as the top focus of the UNDGC. The issue needs to be fixed as soon as possible for the next generation. The UNDGC created the campaign “ACT NOW”, which educates individuals to take action by changing a little part of their lifestyle. An example of an act we could do is to eat less meat for less methane production. In order for the UNDGC to raise the awareness of this global threat, the UNDGC works with partners and supporters. ACT NOW believes: “every climate action we take matters. The more people act, the bigger the impact.”(ACT NOW 1). The supporters and partners of the campaign played a significant role in spreading the act.

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e. Anchor Partners - ‘Sony Pictures’ - Ye Young Lee First of all, out of the five anchor partners of UNDGC, ‘Sony Pictures’ is a widely known active partner working with them. ‘Sony Pictures’ collaborates with UNDGC using the characters of Angry Birds to promote awareness, ambition, and action for climate change. The whole process works like this: ‘Sony Pictures’ makes sure with the UNDGC to check and give out the correct messages to the public of actions we can take to reduce climate change. Through and based on the success of the 2016 #AngryBirdsHappyPlanet campaign, the UN released another project with the popular game and movie Angry Birds. They will tackle several basic steps even the most sluggish people can accomplish to avoid and prevent severe climate changes throughout the globe. On July 10, 2019, ‘Sony Pictures’ launched ‘#AngryBirdsHappyPlanet’ ACT NOW Campaign at HLPF SDG Media Zone.

f.

‘Impact 2030’ & ‘SDG 2 Advocacy Hub’ - Ye Young Lee

Next, ACT NOW has other partners/supporters: ’Impact2030’and ‘SDG 2 Advocacy Hub’. First, the ‘Impact2030’ works with the UNDGC by collaborating with industries and controlling how individuals affect the environment. With the help from ‘Impact2030’, UNDGC earns support for reaching the Sustainable Development Goals. Secondly, the main objective of ‘SDG 2 Advocacy Hub’ is to bring Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), agricultural networks, nutritionists, campaigners, civil society, the private sector, and UN agencies in reaching the 2030 agenda of ending hunger. With this, the UNDGC works for environmental improvement. Since climate change is a major impact of developing other SDG goals, the consumption of food matters with climate change. In 2017, chefs came to a collaboration to support the UN Global Goals by creating meals from seasonal foods. Using seasonal foods is very helpful for climate change; the seasonal foods, according to Sierra, have low-carbon which would lessen greenhouse gas emissions. This shows that food takes a lot part with climate just like reducing meat consumption. Other than this, on

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June 18, 2019, Sustainable Gastronomy Day, launched food production. These kinds of multiple connections with the organizations are providing recognition of the ACT NOW program in a much more friendly way for people to approach. Moreover, the work of the collaboration between these supports can be shown on the resources page in the ACT NOW website with Angry Birds posters and multiple food challenges. g. UN Messengers of Peace Not only UNDGC work with companies, but they also build partnerships within the United Nations. One of them is UNICEF, getting support from them to also publicize. The Smurfs were used as the characters promoting the idea of saving the children via UNICEF, and shortly, the famous Hello Kitty characters may become the characters to represent other possible UN projects. Through these actions, the UN will be able to influence not only the adults and the public but also the kids who will lead the world in the future. The UNDGC links with NGOs which promotes constructive relations between UN & civil society. The UN messengers of Peace are also chosen by the department, acknowledging celebrities who spoke in public for peace. They are HRH Princess HAYA, Daniel Barenboim, Paulo Coelho, Leonardo Dicaprio, Michael Douglas, Jane Goodall, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Midori, Edward Norton, Charlize Theron, Stevie Wonder, and Malala Yousafzai.

5. Q&A Ye Young Lee, Joosung Kim Q. How does the UNDGC plan to persuade and gain the assistance of those who are new to the subject or people who denies the existence of issues such as climate change?

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A. Until the Climate Change Consensus in 2014, scientists continued to debate on whether or not global warming and climate change is an ongoing issue. These people will state facts and evidence that would back up their ideas on this phenomenon. After the Consensus in 2014, however, scientists realized that the time for debating has ended: they figured out that there must be measures put into action to save the planet. The UN has decided to galvanize the consensus and combine the brightest minds to solve the issue, not wasting valuable time debating. Such example is one way they dealt with disagreements among the group, even when the scientists were discussing whether or not the department must focus on communications through web pages or dive into a new type of technology, the SNS. They later found out that the web pages had a large proportion of the viewers and visitors of the overall population of virtual visitors (SNS and web pages), helping decide that they must not give up creating new web pages. In summary, the department tends to take much of the time debating and discussing until a resolution could be found: if not, like the case for climate change, necessary measures must be made. Q. What are some of the UNDGC’s biggest limitations in terms of effectively disseminating information about the UN, and how will they plan to overcome the issues? A. Since this department has been founded in 1947, relatively long compared to other departments in the UN, new requirements come along as time passes by, creating a heap of issues after issues. The UNDGC’s goal is to break it down piece by piece, reforming the plans and acquiring necessary resources better fit for the 21st century. One way of dealing with this issue was to change the name of the department, from UNDPI (United Nations Department of Public Information) to UNDGC (Department of Global Communication). Others include creating better versions of campaigns compared to campaigns done in the past. The main objective is to adapt to the changing world that best creates a system that best fits the current time.

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Q. How effective were the actions of UNDGC to the world? Do you believe the goals of the UNDGC were satisfied? If not, in what ways do you wish to improve them? A. According to the data of visitors to the web page, the web pages were one of the most visited web pages on the internet, especially the young. This proves the fact that the web pages were quite successful. Their effects will be the rise of awareness of different issues throughout the world, and people, in general, becoming interested in other social and economic issues. I honestly believe that the goals made in the past were satisfied: increasing the availability of essential information throughout the world to the general public. It is easy to gain access and to analyze the data altogether, such as the documents and evidence of the Rwandan Genocide. However, it is also true that new limitations are faced every month and new problems arise continuously: new goals must be satisfied, and new ideas must be proposed. Such limitation includes the increase in accessibility via SNS, not the web. This issue, like in the past, will be able to be solved.

Q. How are people of developing countries able to receive information without having mobile or computer devices, for most of the data comes from these paths? A. Although they may indeed have been deprived of technology, there are always other paths and loopholes to let them gain access to information. Such ways of organizing activities for the local communities of developing countries is through newspapers and radios through peacekeeping organizations. Through these somewhat outdated technologies, the progress of equally giving access to information to develop and developing countries comes true. Q. The UNDGC uses digital and traditional methods of media to connect around the world, but what methods do areas with less technology such as in undeveloped countries, communicate?

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A. The method still depends on the location and the place since most countries nowadays including developing countries have any sort of technology to get the news and communicate. They might not have the most recent models but they might have computers or mobile connections. Other than that, radio work can be one major media work that can be used all around the world; they still get communications through media whether they are old or not. Q. What is the most significant campaign in the UNDGC? A. As the secretary-general, Antonio Guterres pointed out that climate change is a current top issue, the most significant campaign. It is a crucial issue for the next generation. Since there is less time to fix this problem, UNDGC focuses on developing and improving the 2030 agenda especially for goal 13 which calls for urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. The UNDGC created the website “actnow.bot” in the campaign. The UNDGC not only focuses on climate change and climate action, but they also emphasize actions they can do and government can do, and what sort of actions that could be done to solve the problem.

6. Conclusion So, now the moment of truth: what is the role and the reason of the UNDGC’s existence? Just remember two C’s: collection and connection. The UNDGC’s website and the department itself has one of the most abundant information held, such as eye witnesses of the Rwandan Genocide, including their hand-written or video-taped testimonies; the written and recorded evidence of the many debates held in the U.S. regarding the Palestinian Question, which is about the relocation of the Palestinians that once lived in the current region of Israel; Climate Change initiatives and what we as global citizens could do, etc. The UNDGC also served as a connection between the UN itself, the NGO spread across the world, even in remote areas where the UN cannot fully operate in, and the general public (the global citizens). Through the use of radios and along with the improvements of technology, websites, Social Network Services, and applications on mobile phones, the UNDGC becomes the backbone of the structure of the UN and its

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spreading in its influences. Without the UNDGC, all collection of analyzed data will be lost (or possibly in a different location); without the UNDGC, without its role as a connection between the three groups stated above, the UN’s first and foremost goal of “No One Left Behind” will never be completed or even become envisioned at all. Thanks to the UNDGC, the collection and connection remains in the UN, firm and strong since 1946. References                

“About Us.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/en/sections/departments/department-global-communications/aboutus/index.html. “ActNow Climate Action Campaign.” United Nations, United Nations, https://www.un.org/en/actnow/partners.shtml. “Around the World.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/en/sections/departments/department-globalcommunications/around-world/index.html. Iisd. “Angry Birds Join UN's ActNow Climate Campaign: News: SDG Knowledge Hub: IISD.” SDG Knowledge Hub, https://sdg.iisd.org/news/angry-birds-join-uns-actnow-climate-campaign/. “Building Partnerships.” United Nations, United Nations, https://www.un.org/en/sections/departments/department-globalcommunications/building-parnerships/index.html. “Collaboration Showcasing Locally Sourced, Seasonal Ingredients.” SDG2 Advocacy Hub, http://www.sdg2advocacyhub.org/index.php/Collaboration. “Department of Global Communications.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/en/sections/departments/departmentglobal-communications/index.html. “Impact2030.” Impact2030, https://www.impact2030.com/. “Low-Carbon Diets Are Good for the Planet, and Your Health.” Sierra Club, 1 Feb. 2019, https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/low-carbon-diets-are-good-for-planet-and-your-health. “Multilingualism Secretary-General.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/sg/en/multilingualism/index.shtml. “News & Media.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/en/sections/departments/department-global-communications/news-media/. “Outreach.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/en/sections/departments/department-globalcommunications/outreach/. “Strategic Communications.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/en/sections/departments/department-globalcommunications/strategic-communications/. “United Nations Department of Global Communications.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Feb. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Department_of_Global_Communications. “United Nations Department of Global Communications.” Wikiwand, www.wikiwand.com/en/United_Nations_Department_of_Global_Communications. “Welcome to Outreach.un.org.mop | Outreach.un.org.mop.” United Nations, United Nations, https://outreach.un.org/mop/.

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Final Presentation Slides

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- Table of Contents1. Definition & History a. Definition of Gender equality b. History of Gender equality 2. Status Quo & Recent issue a. Status Quo b. Recent issue 3. Culture in relation to Gender Equality a. Purpose and Introduction to Culture in relation to Gender Equality b. Confucianism in relation to Gender Equality c. Sharia Law in relation to Gender Equality d. Conclusion with Limitations and Quantitative Repercussions 4. International organizations a. International organizations related to gender equality b. UN Women’s role c. UNICEF’s role d. UNFPA’s role e. Interaction between International Organizations 5. QnA 6. Solutions a. Education b. Partnership

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1. Definition and History (Yujun Jung, Anyang Foreign Language High School) a. Definition of Gender Equality Gender equality is widely known as the notion “the state in which access to rights or opportunities is unaffected by gender.” Also, UN Women defines the term ‘Gender equality’ as “Referring to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female. Gender equality implies that the interests, needs and priorities of both women and men are taken into consideration, recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men. Gender equality is not a women’s issue but should concern and fully engage men as well as women. Equality between women and men is seen both as a human rights issue and as a precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable people-centered development.” To say, in essence, by reflecting today’s conflict between the genders, it seems necessary to see the solution of gender conflict and achieving its goal of gender equality cannot be limited to male nor to the female.

b. 

History of Gender Equality

Korea

Three Kingdoms Period Among Goguryeo, Silla and Baekje, Silla’s women had the highest social status. Considering that the family succession of the ruling class to women existed in Silla until the mid-term, and that the origin of Silla’s ‘Hwarang’ taking its roots in ‘Wonhwa’ which was consisted of woman, and that Silla had three queens

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(Qinseong, Jindeok, and Seondeok) in Silla's history, it is estimated that Silla had the least discrimination against women among the three kingdoms. Goryeo Dynasty In 1123, written by Seo Gung who came to Korea as an envoy of the Song Dynasty, In ‘Goryeo Dogam’ Kwon (can be understood as chapter) 23 indicates that both men and women bathed together when the day was hot. Also, you can find article pointing out the social problem of easy-meeting and breaking up between couples. Also, there are many articles in “The Korea History” that points to the promiscuity of women going to temples to drink, dance and play. Judging from these points, discrimination against women was rather weak during the Goryeo Dynasty. In the Goryeo Dynasty, a daughter or a grandchild could perform ancestral rites even without a son, and even when listing the names in family tree, they wrote down the names not from son but in birth order. Joseon Dynasty In the early Joseon period, patriarchal order was strengthened to facilitate rule under Confucian ideology. Discrimination against women was not relatively strong in the early Joseon period as the customs of Goryeo still remained. Then, the rights, status and life of women changed as the Neo-Confucianism-social ethics started to emerge in Joseon. As a result, women became determined as the inner assistants who supported men's lives at home in the late Joseon Dynasty (after the 18th century). Discrimination took place in the portion of property inheritance, and the appearances of Joseon Women we know now days started to settle into our minds from that period. In the genealogy format, men were arranged at the front, and women were placed behind men. Modern era In the late 19th century, women's groups began to call for the abolition of the patriarchal system, including ‘Yeo-woo club’ and ‘the hymn club’, focusing on women who received new education. During Japanese colonial period, women's rights groups moved to 'geunuoe' and staged a nationwide movement, but due to the patriotic-enlightenment characteristics, they were under pressure of Japan. After liberation, the women's movement which was dead at 60, 70s, was restored in the 1980s. Women's Peace Association, launched a campaign to abolish the early retirement age for women aged 25 and to abolish unfair labor practices. Due to their hard work, since the 1980s, Korea has established and developed an administrative organization dedicated to women's affairs with a policy interest in women's affairs. In order to ensure equal rights for women, the related laws have been amended and enacted, and there had been many policy developments, including the inclusion of the female sector in the national plan. 

Women’s political rights in the Western history

On July 14, 1789, the French Revolution broke out in France in an effort to create a society for freedom and equality against the absolute monarchy. In August the French Declaration of Human Rights was announced, but women's rights were ruled out. French writer Olympe de Gouges issued the Declaration of Women's Rights, calling for women's freedom and equality. The French women's movement became active and developed into a women's political participation movement around the world. However, France did not

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admit women's political rights until 1946, when Britain, the United States and other countries, started to admit the rights. New Zealand, in 1888, about 100 years after the French Revolution, Kate Shepherd sent a petition for women's political participation rights in New Zealand. Because all members of Congress were men at the time, Kate, frustrated but undaunted, took numerous women's signatures and submitted them back to Congress, eventually winning the first women's suffrage in 1893. At the United Kingdom In 1913, a woman jumped into a horse race which involved the British king, claiming women's right to vote and dying four days later. Her name is Emily Davidson, a women's suffrage activist. Over the ten years from 1918 to 1928, Britain also recognizes adult women's suffrage.

2. Status Quo & Recent Issue (Yeojun Yoon, Gangwon Foreign Language High School) a. Status Quo While some indicators of gender equality are moving ahead, such as a significant decline in the predominance of female genital mutilation and early marriage, the overall numbers continue to be high. Moreover, insufficient progress on structural issues at the root of gender inequality, such as legal discrimination, unfair social standards and attitudes, decision-making on sexual and reproductive issues and low levels of political participation, are weakening the ability to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 5. 

18 per cent of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 to 49 from 106 countries have experienced physical and/or sexual partner violence in the previous 12 months. The prevalence is highest in least developed countries, at 24 per cent.

The practice of child marriage has continued to decrease around the world, largely driven by progress in South Asia, where a girl’s risk of marrying in childhood decreased by about one quarter between 2013 and 2018. In sub-Saharan Africa, levels of child marriage have declined at a more modest rate.

At least 200 million girls and women have been exposed to female genital mutilation, based on data from 30 countries where the practice is concentrated and where nationally representative prevalence

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data is available. In these countries, the prevalence of this harmful practice declined by one quarter between approximately 2000 and 2018. 

According to recent data from some 90 countries, women dedicate on average roughly three times more hours a day to unpaid care and domestic work than men, limiting the time available for paid work, education and leisure and further reinforcing gender-based socioeconomic disadvantages.

Women continue to be underrepresented at all levels of political leadership. As at 1 January 2019, women’s representation in national Parliaments ranged from 0 to 61.3 percent, with the average standing at 24.2 percent, a growth from 19 per cent in 2010. At the local level, data from 99 countries and areas show that women’s representation in elected purposeful bodies varies from less than 1 per cent to 48 percent, with the average of the dissemination at 26 percent. When legislated gender quotas are adopted, considerably higher proportions of women are elected at both national and local levels.

While women represented 39 per cent of world employment, only 27 per cent of executive positions in the world were occupied by women in 2018, up only slightly from 26 per cent in 2015. The proportion of women in management has increased since 2000 in all regions except in least developed countries.

In 51 countries with data on the subject, only 57 per cent of women aged 15 to 49, married or in union, make their own decisions about sexual relations and the use of contraceptives and health services.

Over the past 25 years, there has been progress in reforming laws towards improving gender equality, yet discriminatory laws and gaps in legal protection remain in many countries. On the basis of data collected across four areas of law in 2018 from 53 countries, almost a third have legal gaps in the area of overarching legal frameworks and public life (e.g., constitutions, antidiscrimination laws, quotas, legal aid); more than a quarter have legal gaps in the area of violence against women; and 29 per cent and 24 per cent have legal gaps in the employment and economic benefits area and in the marriage and family area, respectively.

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Despite progress in implementing gender-responsive budgeting globally, gaps remain in country efforts to establish comprehensive and transparent tracking systems. Based on 2018 data from 69 countries, 13 countries fully met the criteria of having in place a tracking system that measures and makes publicly available gender budget data, and 41 countries approached the requirements. b. Recent Issue

On 27 March, a 19-year-old girl Rafi accused the principal of her school of calling her into his office and repeatedly touching her in an inappropriate manner. She and her family went to the police that day and she gave a statement. While she was giving her statement, she was filmed by the officer in charge as she described the ordeal. In the video, she looks painful and tries to hide her face with her hands. The policeman told her to move her hand from her face, calling the complaint “no big deal”. He has now been charged with illegally recording her statement and sharing it online. The principal was arrested after Rafi filed her complaint. This arrest triggered street protests locally demanding his release. According to the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) Chief Kumar Majumder, associates of the principal called Mr. Doula and intimidate Rafi’s family to withdraw the complaint. When this failed, the principal is affirmed to have ordered her to be killed if it’s necessary. Some guarded the gates of her school to make sure only students entered, while others kept watch in front of the specific building. That building was where Rafi was to be attacked, according to Mr. Majumder. According to a statement given by Rafi, she was lured to the roof of that building by a fellow female student. There, she was pressured to withdraw the case and asked to sign a blank piece of paper. When she refused, she was gagged and bound before being dowsed with kerosene and burned. In the ambulance, fearing she might die, she recorded another statement on her brother’s mobile phone and enumerated some of her attackers. They were students at her school, madrassa. For many, the death of Rafi evoked memories of victims of sexual harassment, rape and murder who have not yet received justice. In many cases, people are quick to blame the victims of sexual harassment and that might be one of the reasons the accused thought they could get away with their plan.

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3. Culture in relation to Gender Equality (Junhyun Kim, Pomfret School) a.

Purpose and Introduction to Culture in relation to Gender Equality

Throughout history, culture has had a paramount influence on society in a variety of aspects. The inspiration for an eclectic source of decisions that led to specific outcomes mostly had its roots in culture. The compromises formed in the anteceding eras have resulted in the variety of interest groups and policies that ultimately lead to the societal atmosphere of the status-quo. One prominent exemplary evidence may be suggested as Christianity and its influence to the modern era. Founded on the principles of the individual testimonies of the disciples of Jesus Christ, Christianity values the doctrines of human life’s intrinsic value. Additionally, it states the basis of the ideal essence of human beings as formed under the conventional notion of parents being consisted of a male and a female, without an abstracted classification between biological sex and the rather contemporary conceptual gender. Consequently, advocates of Christianity have not only been expanding on the scale of its followers, but have also permeated at an exponential rate in regards to the beliefs that coincide with modern political beliefs. The aforementioned beliefs and values of Christianity has shaped its believers with a strong stance on political affairs such as gay marriage and abortion. The core values of Christianity therefore influenced its advocates into forming stances of being, to an extent, adamantly against gay marriage and reproductive abortion. As interest groups with a particular set of ideologies have been formed under the influence of a subset of cultures (like that of Christianity), it is thus appropriate to examine the influences of various different cultures such as Confucianism and Sharia’ Law to gender inequality. b.

Confucianism in relation to Gender Equality

The widespread prominence of Confucianism in Asia is undeniable. Countries such as South Korea and China are prominent examples of Confucianism, shaping the values of society both in the past and in the present. To mention the influences of Confucianism in the past would be nothing more than reiterating on the claims of the already widely known facts of the field of Asian studies. While one may be impotent to dispute the previous influences of Confucianism in Asia, its implications in the

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status-quo is a subject for potential debate. However, it must be stated that without the historical background of Confucianism leading up to the status-quo in parts of east Asia, the substantiality of gender inequality in the respective geological region would be nonetheless be significantly undermined. With this being said, Confucianism in China from its ancient to recent implications has been the most exemplary case when discussing gender inequality in parts of East Asia. China’s history of Confucianism dates back to the Han dynasty. With the rise of Confucianism in the Han dynasty, the teachings of the “Five Relationships” and “Three Bonds” have been explicitly permeated throughout society. While these teachings have been used to keep order in ancient Han dynasty, critics of it claim that it not only didn’t achieve its purpose of doing so, but furthermore exacerbated the issue of societal turmoil by creating a disparity between men and women. The “Five Relationships” is contingent with the theoretically idealistic relationships of the sovereign and subject, parent and child, elder and younger brother, husband and wife, and friend and friend. To further accentuate the “Five Relationships” and the idea of male patriarchy, “Three Bonds” states ideologies of absolute deference and authority to the ruler over the subject, the father over the son, and the husband over the wife. Galia Patt-Shamir, an expert in the field of Asian Confucianism, has mentioned that “It is clear that while Confucianism reserve the centrality of learning for men, for women, it is limited to learning of housekeeping and family-caring, while allowing men to pursue the rest” (Galia 244). Thus, the limitations of Confucianism was in the idea itself; the idea of male patriarchy solely based on biological sex would not only be discriminatory to women in the past and present, but has even undermined the productivity of human beings in a collective standpoint. c.

Sharia Law in relation to Gender Equality

In parts of the Middle East and throughout the world where Islamic ideologies prevail, Sharia law has been the enemy for women. Sharia law has been founded on the basis of the Kuran, in which it distinguishes several discriminatory factors that undermine women as the inferior sex. The rigid laws of Islam has designated men of being in charge over women. The fundamental implications derive from Allah’s own will of men being dominant, and women being predestined to live in accord to a subordinate supporter of men in households and society. As a prominent example, Koran 4:34 states that “The male is in charge of the female.” Since the Kuran states that women’s testimonies only equate to half of that of males and that women should be veiled at all times under the authority of Allah, the suppression of women from domestic households to society is evident. While many argue that the Muslim state has been improved radically in recent times by suggesting emendations such as Saudi Arabia allowing women to drive for the first time in history, this may not necessarily be true for the Islamic states. Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is known to have a theocratic structure of government; this means that Iran’s political regime is rooted in religion. Thus, the Iranian government enforces its policies customarily based on Sharia law. In the Quran which consists of Sharia law, a variety of legislations exist regarding discrimination on gender. Examples include, “A wife should never refuse herself to her husband even if it is on the saddle of a camel,” “Hellfire appeared to me in a dream & I noticed that it was above all people with women who had been ungrateful. Was it towards god that they were ungrateful? They had not shown any gratitude towards their husbands for all they had received from them …. Even when all your life you have showered a woman with your largesse she will still find something petty to reproach you with one day, saying, ‘You have never done anything for me.’.” As such laws are stated in the Quran, the theocratic state of Iran is left with the only option of complying with the discriminatory standards of the Quran. Thus, as long as the political structure of Iran and other Islamic states remain as a theocratic state with the basis of the Quran and Sharia law, gender inequality in these countries will be incapable to be unconditionally eradicated.

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d. Conclusion with Limitations and Quantitative Repercussions While not all may agree to the notion that all of the existing inequalities in the status-quo are due to culture, the fact that culture and religion have had a substantive and significant impact on the contemporary atmosphere of societal standards is undeniable. While subjects of cultures aforementioned such as Confucianism and Sharia law are pronounced examples of how each subordinate cultural religions from diverse geographical religions have altered the past and the present, it is not to be mistaken that these cultural subsets are the limitations of altercations by culture in the society that exists in the status-quo. In this case study, both limitations and quantitative outcomes have noticeably surfaced. While the limitations of the study was the limited scope of cultural categories, the perceptible takeaways have been the substantiality of repercussions that sub categorical interest groups in diverse cultures. Therefore many cultural subsets including Asian Confucianism and Islamic Sharia law has been a prominent clout in shaping societal standards with regards to gender equality. 4. International Organizations (Hyunji Lee, Cheongdeok High School) a. International organizations related to gender equality Relating to Gender Equality, several international organizations contribute to alleviating the problem. For instance, there are UN Women, UNICEF, and UNFPA, etc. Those organizations sometimes interact and sometimes work individually to achieve gender equality. b. UN Women’s role UN women expedite progress on meeting undermined and endangered women's needs worldwide. To achieve gender equality, UN women suggests global standards. They also cooperate with governments and civil society to arrange laws, policies, programmes, and services required to ensure that the standards set are productively realized.

UN women particularly focus on 4 strategic priorities: ď‚&#x; ď‚&#x;

Women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems Women have income security, decent work, and economic autonomy

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All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence Women and girls contribute to and have greater influence in building sustainable peace and resilience, and benefit equally from the prevention of natural disasters and conflicts and humanitarian action. In every part of the world, there is still a huge number of women who suffer from violence and discrimination. Over several decades, the United Nations has made compelling alterations in advancing gender equality. Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) are such examples.  

Followed by UN women's priorities, there are also 4 main roles that UN women play:   

To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards, and norms. To help Member States implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society. To lead and coordinate the UN system’s work on gender equality, as well as promote accountability, including through regular monitoring of system-wide progress. c.

UNICEF’s role

As widely known, UNICEF is responsible for children’s safety. The relationship between UNICEF and gender equality is that UNICEF deals with young girls’ rights which leads to securing endangered gender. One of the main services that UNICEF promotes is to protect girls under 18. Early wedding is considered to be a weighty problem. The victims of the early wedding are most likely to be girls. If it happens, little girls get to lose their opportunities to be educated and gain a greater possibility of being exposed to a violent family. With the work of UNICEF, the early marriage rate continuously decrease, yet with the mounting number of population, its number increases. Out of all the early wedding victims, 42% of them live in South Asia. When an early wedding is performed, problems surely exist. When pregnancy happens before 18, 60% of the infants face death. Therefore UNICEF works in a variety of fields. UNICEF cooperates with a community, higher the age of marriage and support governments to reinforce related legislations. They also cooperate with the UN and other association to prevent an unhealthy tradition such as female genital mutilation. Out of 17 countries targeted, 12 legislated against female genital mutilation. As a consequence, from 16 countries, 2931 communities were with UNICEF and 8.5 million people got involved in the movement of eradicating female genital mutilation. d. UNFPA’s role "UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Our mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.” UNFPA participates in diverse areas to create a better environment and realize gender equality. Principally, UNFPA believes that gender equality cannot be achieved without the involvement of men and boys. Thus, it emphasizes men's role in reproductive health. The projects of its target wide range of men-from soldiers to

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religious leaders-to achieve different goals, from HIV prevention to greater male involvement in family life. Such instance can be the project which UNFPA works with male adolescents and youth to question current prejudices of male’s role and to enhance their understanding of and support for women's rights and gender equality. UNFPA also deals with FGM (Female Genital Mutilation). There are still several countries with the tradition of FGM like the reference below.

In 2008, UNFPA and UNICEF established the Joint Programme on FGM, the largest global programme to accelerate the abandonment of FGM and to provide care for its consequences. This programme works on various levels like the community, nation, region, etc. to elevate awareness of the harms caused by FGM. As a result, the Joint Programme has helped over 3.2 million girls and women. UNFPA also take part in taking care of girls' health to prevent FGM. Due to the UNFPA and UN agencies' hard work, many countries have passed legislation banning FGM - Nigeria and The Gambia also, in 2015 and raised national policies to achieve its abandonment. e.

Interaction between International Organizations

International organizations are often considered as ideal facilities or are responsible for changing the world like a miracle. That is a complete misconception. Having precious time with UN members, I acknowledged the fact that all international organizations exist to suggest guidelines to the member states. To accept it or not is up to the country itself. Therefore, international organizations prove their worth only if each of the countries pays deep attention. 5. QnA (Dany Kim, Daejeon Foreign Language High School) While all of the following questions may not have been asked by our group, we set out to ask questions that approached the problems surrounding gender equality through a socioeconomic perspective— questions appropriate in the context of the DESA (Department of Economic and Social Affairs). We also tried to avoid asking questions regarding modern feminism and LGBTQ + rights, and more relevant questions regarding the socioeconomic ramifications of issues such as reproductive rights in the US, practices of minority cultures, and the gender pay gap. By asking questions that would induce more answers, we were able to organize this information and put it into the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 5, which aims for the promotion of gender equality worldwide. Without the fair representation of

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women, who make up for roughly half the global population, it would be incredibly difficult to make the world a sustainable place, much less a developed one.

Q. What are some of the major achievements the UN has accomplished in the area of gender equality? A. While we may not see monumental progress overnight, there have been small steps made over time which eventually laid the foundation for larger changes. For example, in 1945, a UN committee of 51 countries would have 2-3 delegates who were women. Fast forward to today, wherein the prime minister of New Zealand can attend to her duties at the General Assembly while her husband takes care of their newborn child behind her without anyone batting an eye. It’s important to realize that the UN cannot make legally binding decisions, meaning they cannot expect to earn notable praise for the slow and steady progress being made behind the scenes. Q. Could you offer your insight as to why the united States are so reluctant to amend their reproductive rights in favor of gender equality? A. It’s not the average citizen that is eager to restrict certain reproductive rights for women, but rather voting blocs in areas such as the Southern parts of the US that are voting against these rights. In fact, more progressive reproductive rights were pursued by the Supreme Court—especially through the 1972 Roe v. Wade case that protected the rights of a pregnant woman to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. Some US experts even suggest that pro-choice reproductive laws may correlate with reduced crime rates as unwanted children are simply not being born. Q. You mentioned a lot of the social problems surrounding gender equality such as discrimination in the workplace, but could you elaborate on what the UN is doing to solve other facets of gender equality such as domestic and sexual violence? A. Some of the mechanisms to realize gender equality and women’s rights include the CEDAW convention, which aims to eliminate all forms of gender violence, the CRC, and UN Women. However, given that the UN Security Council is the only branch of the UN that can sanction countries for not adhering to guidelines

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that were agreed upon, there are limitations to what these organizations can do. In fact, Iceland is the only country right now where it is a criminal offence to pay men and women different wages for the same amount of work. Q. South Korea may be an economically developed country, but is less developed when it comes to the realization of gender equality. With that in mind, do you agree with the notion that more developed countries have better protected gender equality rights? A. Although a correlation between developed nations and how much gender equality is realized exists, there will always be exceptions to the rule. For example, Japan is quite developed both economically and culturally, but they are not well developed in the area of gender equality. This may be attributed to some of the traditions or prejudices of a country that have lasted throughout time.

Q. How does the UN actually encourage everyone to share some of the responsibilities that were traditionally handled by one gender? A. While the UN cannot make legally enforce people to play their part in fulfilling gender equality that does not mean progress is not being made. You can sense a culture of change in motion, with incentives being offered for gender equality—such as paid paternity/maternity leave. There is also a certain amount of pressure, whether that be internal or external, to share familial responsibilities together—for example, raising children. Q. I think it is difficult to change the mentality of people who do not acknowledge gender equality. With that said, how does the UN plan to encourage the general public to help realize gender equality? A. Every succeeding generation is actually doing a better job in achieving gender equality than the last. Changes are being made to our society so that social cues and incentives exist to encourage people to acknowledge the importance of gender equality. For example, the press may incentivize companies to make changes to their workplace environment so that scandals regarding gender equality can be prevented.

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Q. Korea and many other countries have connotations within their language that imply gender inequality. How can we discourage the use of discriminative language? A. In more progressive societies, people are free to refer themselves by any pronoun they deem fit. Many people also have the right to state that they are gender neutral, and use the appropriate pronouns accordingly. Deep, lasting changes to public thought are primarily made through incentives. Without there being an incentive to make change and achieve gender equality, many people will remain complacent. Of course, we must be cautious about the negative side effects that can arise through prohibition or regulation. Q. In minority cultures, practices that undermine and endanger women like breast ironing, neck elongation, and female genital mutilation are known to exist. While some of these practices are allowed by the international community and organizations such as the United Nations itself, others are regulated as harmful to women and potential targets for eradication. What are the guidelines for determining whether the practice should be deemed as an individual and original culture as opposed to a practice that should be labeled as one that is harmful to women and one that should be fixed by the United Nations? A. The UN definitely does not condone such practices, and categorically opposes it in every mention made. However, as formerly mentioned, the UN can do all the condemning and blaming it wants, but lacks the legally binding tools to address the problem and demand changes be made. Instead, the UN is working to create an environment where change can be fostered. As history has proved again and again, simply prohibiting something has never been effective and could potentially lead to a newer set of problems.

Q. I was wondering as an expert in economic affairs in the United Nations, and on the topic of gender equality, do you believe that the gender pay gap exists, and if so, do you believe it is an indication of gender inequality? A. The gender pay gap does exist, definitely not in the UN, but the United States has a notoriously wide pay gap. Although the situation is improving, the once popular statistics were true— for every dollar men make, women make 70 cents, thus a 30 percent difference. This gap is huge when put into the perspective of 3 to 5 digit wages. There may be various reasons for this pay gap, but an interesting notion is that women are less represented and protected in the workforce due to their absence in the workplace after child birth, whereas men are making more progress and doing more work during that time.

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6. Solutions (Soohyun Park, Weihai Zhongshi Foreign School)

a. Education Education is the most important solution to solve gender inequality. By educating women, they can protect their own rights. Also, women have the capability, along with the knowledge and confidence to find their own rights. By providing different education systems to girls, more advantages are given to women in countries around the world. Here are several solutions: ‘Providing primary education to all girls’ There are some Less Developed Countries that cannot provide an adequate education system for poorer people. By helping them construct several primary schools, it enables all boys and girls to get the same level of education. This allows women to have the rights and get the same quality of education as men do. ‘Provide textbooks and study materials to girls’ Most of the people in LEDCs do not have enough money to get study materials. By donating different study materials to the girls in those countries, it can encourage girls to have a foundational education. Moreover, girls who get primary education will have the mindset to gain more useful knowledge. ‘Encourage girls to pursue an activity like sports‘ There are many different sports in the world. Some people think that only men can do active sports like soccer, basketball and other sports. By encouraging women to pursue a different sports activity, women and men can equally enjoy the sports. 52


Encourage women teachers to teach students There are many teachers around the world. When students go to school, they are also able to perceive the number of teachers at school who are women. By having female teachers give the lessons, this can encourage other girls to gain confidence on their rights. Also, it can motivate the girls to get more education and a bigger vision for their future. b. Partnership Partnership is the other solution for the gender inequality. Partnership is also the most important to the women’s rights. By cooperate with other parts of the United Nation, it can easy to success the sustainable development goals 5 (SDGs 5). Also, have a partnership with the other organization, it can solve other sustainable development goals with this gender problems. Partnership with the UNICEF UNICEF is United Nations International Children’s Fund. In this organization, they help the children from food, education, and health care. In the UNICEF, they help children to have a right education of gender equality. They are not only educate girls for protect their rights, they also educate the boys about the gender equality. Partnership with the UN women UN women organization is the group that work for the women rights. They help out equal payment for the men and women. They also help out the women who got the sexual harassment and against women from the violent from the men. They help out the women to get their own rights and their own demand. - References       

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“OSAGI Gender Mainstreaming Concepts and Definitions.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/conceptsandefinitions.htm. “About Us: Employment.” UN Women, www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment. “Goal 5.:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.” United Nations, United Nations, sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg5. “Nusrat Jahan Rafi: 16 Charged in Bangladesh for Burning Girl Alive.” BBC News, BBC, 29 May 2019, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48441604. “Brief. Educating Girls: The Path to Gender Equality.” Global Partnership for Education, www.globalpartnership.org/content/brief-educating-girls-path-gender-equality. “Girls' Education.” World Bank, www.worldbank.org/en/topic/girlseducation. Dabbah, Mariela. “3 Solutions to Promote Gender Equality in the Workplace.” RED SHOE MOVEMENT, Mariela Dabbah Https://Redshoemovement.com/Wp-Content/Uploads/2017/02/RSM-Logo-Website.png, 13 Dec. 2018, redshoemovement.com/solutions-to-promote-gender-equality/. “Gender Equality.” UNDP, www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/2030-agenda-for-sustainable-development/people/genderequality.html. “About UN Women.” UN Women, www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/about-un-women. “UNICEF.” UNICEF, www.unicef.org/. “UNFPA.” United Nations Population Fund, 12 Aug. 2019, www.unfpa.org/. “About Us.” United Nations Population Fund, www.unfpa.org/about-us. “Female Genital Mutilation.” United Nations Population Fund, www.unfpa.org/female-genital-mutilation. “Galia Patt-Shamir (Tel Aviv University).” PhilPeople, philpeople.org/profiles/galia-patt-shamir./@amygao14. “The Problem with Confucianism and Gender Roles in Asia.” Medium, Medium, 13 July 2018, medium.com/@amygao14/theproblem-with-confucianism-and-gender-roles-in-asia-3abcfea8b965. Powell, Mike. “Islam and Women's Rights: Overcoming Inequality.” Center for Inquiry, 20 June 2018, centerforinquiry.org/blog/islam-and-womens-rights/

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- Final Presentation Slides-

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1. Introduction (Hajung Cho) The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the 17 goals and 169 targets set by the United Nations to make the world a better place. It is also called as the Agenda 2030 since its ultimate objective is to complete its 17 goals by the year 2030. These goals, which have been set under the aim of “No one is left behind� was completed in September of 2015 after the first discussion about SDGs in 2012. Also, this agenda has 5 critical components: People, Prosperity, Peace, Partnership, and Planet.

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While the SDGs are 15 year term goals from 2016 to 2030, predecessor of the SDGs were the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), from 2000 to 2015, which aimed toward the goals of fighting poverty and hunger. MDGs, consisted of 8 goals and 21 targets, show differences in many factors compared to the SDGs. There are some notable differences between the goals of MDGs and the SDGs. While the main objective of the MDGs is getting “halfway” to the eradication of poverty and hunger, for SDGs, the main objective is “zero” hunger, meaning that by the year 2030, the UN will complete on eliminating hunger and poverty. It is also different on the fact that MDGs focus mostly on the area of poverty and hunger, while SDGs focus not only on those social issues, but also on environmental problems and economic affairs. SDGs also distinguished hunger and poverty problems, after learning from the lessons of MDGs that solving one wouldn’t solve another. Moreover, SDGs included peace building to the success of poverty and hunger goals. It also show differences in the area of applicability. MDGs have concentrated on aiding the developing and poor countries with the help of developed countries when, for the Agenda 2030, it focuses on aiding both developed and developing countries on the issues of 17 goals. MDGs had only focused on public sector such as government of member nations, too, which made it not encouraging enough for the private sector to participate in achieving the goals, while on the other hand, SDGs are focusing on both public sector and private sector so that companies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) / Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and individuals can also contribute to and be mobilized more on achieving the goals. As SDGs address the most significant issues globally, achieving these goals and solving those issues would bring about positive changes to humanity and the society as a whole.

2. Sustainable Development Goals (Sarah Bak, Jeongmin Lee, Chaewon Lee) SDG 1: The main goal of SDG 1 is to reduce poverty in all its forms everywhere. Since the main cause of extreme poverty is exacerbation of violent conflict and climate change, tackling those problems is challenging because of their persistence and complexity, often containing the interplay of social, political and economic factors. The share of the world’s population living in extreme poverty declined to 10% in

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2015, from 16% in 2010 and 36% in 1990. More than one billion people have lifted themselves out of poverty over the past 25 years.

The 2019 report of SDG 1 illustrates that there is still a long way to go. Firstly, more than one third of employed workers in sub-saharan Africa still live on less than $1.90 a day. 45% of sub-saharan African lived below $1.90 in 2010, and 38% of them lived below in same situation in 2018. We can see there was an improvement with its results but the pace is really slow as stated in the first paragraph. Secondly, social protection systems fall short of reaching the world’s most accessible people, including children. More than half of the world’s population have no access to social protection. So we can say that they or 4 billion people are left behind. Lastly, the toll of climate-related disasters is rising, with poorer countries most affected. From 1998 to 2017, direct economic losses from disasters were predicted at almost $3 trillion, of which climate-related disasters accounted for 77% of the total. These disasters took 1.3 million lives. SDG 2: The main goal of SDG 2 is to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. Although there is earlier extended progress, the number of people suffering from hunger has increased since 2014. In order to remove the problems of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition, considerable effort from the countries of Asia and Africa is needed. Some statistics demonstrates the status of SDG2 in 2019. People living in hunger have inclined by a million. For instance, the number of the undernourished has increased from 784 million in 2015 to 821 in 2017. Moreover, 22% (149 million) of children under 5 are stunted globally. SDG 3: The main goal of SDG 3 is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. There were big steps made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the common risks with child and maternal mortality. However, more work toward reducing maternal death is still required. Despite the work and effort for maternal mortality, 300,000 women died during the period of pregnancy and childbirth in 2017. Reducing maternal deaths, which is preventable by suitable measures and care, will be able to reach the target of 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030 if we keep investing and being concerned about the issue. Reduction of maternal death will ultimately bring the positive result of saving more than one million lives over a decade. More work will also be required in the area of eradicating malaria and

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tuberculosis, too, which the pace of progress has slowed down a lot. But still, positive steps are being made in reducing world death and extending health problems. Vaccinations resulted in an 80% drop in measles deaths, and incidence of HIV dropped by 37% among people aged between 15-49 in sub-saharan Africa between 2010 and 2017. Hopefully, these ongoing affirmative moves will one day reach the goal of SDG 3. SDG 4: The main goal of SDG 4 is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for everyone and promote lifelong education opportunities. There should be more drastic effort to achieve better development since issues still exist. Specifically, 617 million children and adolescents still cannot read. 750 million adults still remain ignorant (two thirds of them are women). 20% children between 6 and 17 years are not attending school.

SDG 5: The main goal of SDG 5 is to achieve gender equality and empower women and girls. The goal also tries to eradicate problems like domestic violence, sexual exploitation, and child marriage. The current statistics shows that there are more things to be achieved. This year, there was at least 200 million girls and women have been damaged to female genital mutilation. Moreover, 24% of national parliamentarians are women, which is an increase from 19% in 2010, but it is still a low number. Also, still 30% of women who get married before the age of 18. SDG 6: The water scarcity problem is one of the serious problems in the world. SDG 6 tries to achieve sustainable management and availability of clean water and sanitation for all. Despite some progress, more action is needed since problems still exist. Two thirds of the river in Africa got dried and it is polluted that people can’t drink the water. Moreover, 2 billion people live in water scarcity country and experiencing high eater stress. Furthermore, since 2 out of 5 people don’t have a basic hand washing facility, their health and their hygiene are at risk. So by 2030, 700 million people could be displaced by intense water scarcity. SDG 7: Currently, the international community is making efforts to achieve its Goal 7. As a result, access to electricity has increased in underdeveloped countries. In addition, energy efficiency has been improved and renewable energy has become a large part of it. However, it is not enough to achieve the goal. People

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should have easy access to clean and safe fuel and technology, and the use of renewable energy should not be limited electricity.

As of now, many people use electricity and the proportion of the population with access to services is accelerating every year. Still, more than 800 million people have no access to Internet services, and about 600 million people still do not receive enough electricity. Of course, electrification has progressed rapidly in rural areas, but there is still a big gap with cities. It can be seen that most of the unserviceable people live in rural areas. The present situation, electrification goes through a more complex process. Access to clean and safe cooking fuel and technology is also developing but its speed is judged to be significantly slower and inefficient, and is adversely affecting people's lives. Low and middle income people suffer from poor health, and about 4 million people die early. Africa, in particular, feels that demand and supply for technology are not in a proper balance, and a solution should be provided to address it. Energy accessibility and energy efficiency also play a major role in the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, energy accessibility and efficiency are improving each year, but still fall short of the SDG's target. Accordingly, the United Nations recommends that governments set higher energy efficiency to achieve in order to facilitate progress. SDG 8: Continuous and comprehensive economic growth can lead to the development of the country, provide jobs for citizens and improve living standards. GDP and labor productivity are up, but unemployment is down. Overall, economic growth has become limited to developed countries, and employment opportunities have increased only for young people. What are the numbers that we should focus on to achieve goal 8? Real GDP per capita allows us to know the average standard of living. Indeed, real GDP per capita has increased worldwide, and this growth was expected to be sustained. Developed countries' SDG targets were real GDP growth of at least 7 percent, growing and accelerating in the beginning, but have shown signs of slowing recently. Economic policies at 62


the national level have often fallen short of these goals and should be proposed to address them and ensure long-term sustainability.

Labor productivity has increased since the global economic downturn in 2009, and worldwide has been showing steady annual growth since 2010. This has grown to record the highest annual growth rate, but it is again raising the issue, with huge gaps among regions. It has achieved great economic growth in Central Asia, southern Asia and East and West Asia, but little change has been made in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. There is a gap between regions, but there is certainly a difference between sexes. Women still pay less than men, and men's average hourly wage is 12 percent higher than women's, the report showed. Even men had a wage advantage in all major occupational groups. This gender wage gap is due to fixed expectations of the role of women, and if we increase the gap in employment opportunities and develop social protection policies, we will be able to address gender equality in employment issues. SDG 9: Sustainable industrialization can foster competitive economic power. Raising economic power encourages effective international trade and enables efficient use of resources. But countries are still unable to capitalize on their potential capabilities. To achieve the goal, we must develop manufacturing technology and expand investment in scientific research. The main reason why the development of manufacturing technology is to achieve the goal 9 is due largely to trade and tariff barriers. Despite the economic downturn, manufacturing has increased its share in GDP, but it is still developing at a sluggish pace, and there has also been a stark difference in industrial productivity between rich and poor countries. Research and development (R&D) also has a huge impact, so investment in R&D should be expanded. But investment in R&D also differed by region. In Europe and North America, there were big investments in

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R&D, but in sub-Saharan Africa and Western Asia, a small percentage of investments were made, with 0.42 percent and 0.83 percent consumed, respectively. This investment imbalance requires increased funding for research and development in developing countries. SDG 10: The UN has set the goal of SDGs to reduce inequality among countries. Despite the development of several regions, inequality within or between countries is still causing concern. Income inequality continues to rise, even though most of the population is experiencing an increase in income. In particular, inequality related to labor and trade should be intensively reduced. To this end, the government should enhance zero-tariff access and strengthen support in terms of technology. Such a large number of countries are focused on alleviating inequality and resolving social engagement. In particular, the share of the poor is largely attributable to relieving inequality. Regardless of the overall economic situation in the country, however, inequality is all large, meaning that income inequality is not significantly related to economic conditions, such as affluence or poverty.

SDG 11: It can be seen through various evidence that the world is urbanizing increasingly, with more than half of the world's population living in cities and the proportion growing. Urban areas account for most of the world's GDP, but they also account for most of its carbon emissions. With the rapid urbanization, the number of people living in slums increased and the social system became unstable. Goal 11 is set to solve these problems, and many countries are developing the sustainability of cities. Globally, the percentage of slum dwellers has decreased, but recently the rate has increased. In particular, the percentage has risen sharply in East and West Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and South and Central Asia. The demand for affordable housing is growing, and this tells us that policies are needed to ensure affordable housing. Public transport, as well as housing, serves as a catalyst for economic growth, serving as an essential component for urban dwellers. But as urbanization deepened, the use of public transport skyrocketed, which resulted in serious pollution of the environment. Most citizens' access to public transportation has increased, but in sub-Saharan Africa, accessibility has fallen far behind. Thus, in certain areas of low accessibility,

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access to public transport should be enhanced, and sustainable transportation should be provided, especially for those vulnerable to human rights, such as women, children, the elderly and the disabled.

However, the above solutions have created problems that can cause environmental pollution. To make this worse was instability in the collection of waste. The majority of people have not received waste collection services or have not been able to access the waste disposal facilities. It is also due to greenhouse gas emissions such as air, water and soil pollution. Even worse, the problem gets worse as urbanization progresses. The United Nations has warned that there is an urgent need for investment in the infrastructure for waste disposal in many areas. SDG 12: The world has successfully achieved economic and social development, but it has been accompanied by environmental degradation, which is even threatening human survival. Humans continued to use natural resources and did not change easily, so the relationship between economic growth and natural resources became deeper. Excessive resources are being extracted due to material needs, accompanied by environmental degradation, and informs humans that policies and technologies based on sustainability must be developed. To ensure sustainable development of society, management should ultimately focus on the finite nature of natural resources. In order to do so, it is important to analyze the causes and investigate the impact of such factors on society and use them in policy. SDG 13: SDG 13’s detailed goal is to take urgent action to prevent climate change and its effects. Over the past four years, the average global temperature has been the warmest on record. The global average temperature in 2018 is approximately 1°C above the pre-industrial baseline. Sea levels continue to rise at an accelerating rate. Atmospheric CO2 concentration is 146% of pre-industrial levels in 2017. As more countries are making plans to boost their resilience and capacity to adapt to climate change, 186 Parties have ratified the Paris Agreement. By those kind of efforts, we could avoid some serious situations not only personal but everyone should focus strongly in this solution because climate change is on severe conditions.

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SDG 14: SDG 14’s detailed goal is to ‘conserve the seas, oceans and marine resources for sustainable development’. The sea makes up the largest ecosystem on Earth, provides food and livelihood to billions of people. So we should actively look for solution to recover our shelters. Over the decades, however, carbon emissions have increased, resulting in heat accumulating in the oceans and changes in chemical composition. Ocean acidity has increased by 26% since pre-industrial times. It is expected to rapidly increase by 100-150% by 2100. The increase in ocean acidity is a negative phenomenon. It impacts the ability of the ocean to absorb CO2 and endangers marine life. 87 countries signed the Agreement on Port State Measures, the first binding international agreement on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. SDG 15: SDG 15’s detailed goal is ‘Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss’. The issue of species extinction has worsened by approximately 10% over the last 25 years. Also, land degradation is heavily influencing the lives of 1 billion people and the 20% of the earth’s land area. There has been more protection of Key Biodiversity Area. Between 2000 and 2018, the global average percentage of each Key Biodiversity Area covered by protected areas increased by 42% on fresh water, 39% of terrestrial area, and 36% of mountains. To incentivize the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources and biodiversity through the sharing of benefits, as of 1 February 2019, 116 parties have ratified the Nagoya Protocol, which handles the issue of access to genetic resources and their equitable use. We should continue to pay attention to issues and strive to preserve the ecosystem. SDG 16: SDG 16’s detailed goal is ‘Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels’. Men are occupying around 80% of homicide incidents overall. But women occupy 64% of murder victims of intimate partner/family-related homicide. 70% of detected victims of human trafficking are women and girls. To promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. UN recorded and verified 397 additional killings of human rights defenders, journalists and trade unionists across 41 countries most of whom are trafficked for sexual exploitation. Plus, 91 journalists and bloggers were among the victims. Globally, only three quarters of children under age 5 have birth registration, which is 73%. Birth registration records 46% in sub-Saharan Africa less than half of children under age 5. Based on this, to make peaceful society, not only women's security but also children's security should be protected. SDG 17: SDGs 17’s detailed goal is ‘Strengthen the means of implementation and revive the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development’. NET ODA totaled $149 billion in 2018, down by 2.7% from 2017. In 2018, both ODA to the LDCS fell by 3% in real terms from 2017. Finally, aid to Africa fell by 4%. Remittances will be the largest source of external financing in low- and middle-income countries in 2019 expected to project to reach $550 billion. Current commitments to statistics must be doubled to meet statistical which is 0.33% of total ODA, capacity-building objectives by 2030. In sub-Saharan Africa, less than one quarter of national statistical plans are fully funded. Over 80% of people in developed countries are online compared to 45% in developing countries and only 20% in LDCs. In order to contribute to improving international relations by strengthening our fallen capabilities, we must struggle. 3. Q&A (Minjin Kim) Q. The UN fulfill their SDGs through the governments of the member countries, because of course they are the goals that the member states have agreed upon, but sometimes there are circumstances where those can’t be achieved only by the efforts of the public sector and need the hand of the private sector such as companies and citizens. So in that case, how can the UN encourage or render those companies or citizens to work together on the issues of the SDGs?

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A. UN Global compact is one of the means that the companies can contribute to solving the problems. Now, these companies are encouraged to give back to the community. And it is important to note that companies have sufficient incentives to do this. They have been a lot of changes, but there is still a long way to go. Q. SDG number 5 is ending all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere. But since there are some countries that have low women’s right and have discrimination like wearing hijab or can’t get divorced by themselves due to religion and culture, it is not easy to adopt the same standards when approaching these countries. Therefore, this means there is a thin line between a nation’s sovereignty and the UN’s initiatives. How does UN approach these issues? A. Member states have come to an agreement, and they’re going to implement goal 5 to approach gender equality. Moreover, there are a lot of other organizations besides UN that works for the achievement of SDG 5. UN Women and UNICEF is one. Also, the UN is actively sending out political experts to give advice to countries. Q. The SDGs form a kind of common dream with noble targets for a better world: something to reach for. For example, SDG number 16 on peace and justice, we think this goal is abstract and there are no absolute criteria to judge. So, how can we justify that the target is accomplished? Aren’t the SDGs too ideal? A. SDG is abstract and ideal, but at the same time, it is crucial in the sense that it is an agenda where all the member states agreed to make this world a better place where no one is left behind. The UN's continuous efforts are significant in order to reach these ideal goals and the harmonization of countries. Q. How does the UN solve the contradictions between the goals in SDGs? For example, wouldn’t the economic development of developing countries be hindered if there is the pressure of halting climate change?

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A. In order to solve these situations, developed countries are and should fund the developing countries to skip the stage of development where they burn coal and fossil fuels. With this fund, the UN expects the developing countries to develop renewable energy sources and sustainable development. Thus, the UN is putting efforts to both encourage economic development and climate action with its SDGs. 4. Solution (Kyeongmook Lee) Various actors must take actions in order to solve the global problems addressed in the SDGs. There are four main actors: the UN, the governments of the member states, the private sector, NGOs / CSOs, and individuals. UN must continue to promote the agenda and raise awareness of the actors in order to fully achieve the goals. Moreover, it should provide framework and place that actors can come together and cooperate with each other to make bigger changes worldwide. For instance, the UN Department of Global Communications has to continue promoting the agenda itself by utilizing methods such as strategic campaigns and media. Since SDGs have been signed by all the member states and the agenda itself is an ambitious commitment of the world community to ensure sustained and economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection, the governments worldwide must put most of their efforts in order to eradicate global problems and achieve the goals. Also, they should cooperate with each other and from partnerships because more actors acting for same objectives can bring about larger social, economic, and political clout. Efforts and engagement from the private sector as a partner are crucial since the development aids cannot alone support SDGs. For instance, many firms and companies have joined the UN Global Compact, adopting its ten principles for developing sustainable policies in their management process. Furthermore, it is important to note that firms and companies have sufficient incentives to join the compact because incorporating the compact’s principles and making changes in their policies would not only positively contribute to the company’s reputation, but also provide it with various opportunities regarding new market access and institutional investment.

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NGOs and CSOs must also form partnerships the UN in order to make bigger changes. Specifically, they can register into the UN Partner Portal and look for partnership opportunities notified by the UN system agencies. Moreover, these organizations should continue to support the SDGs by helping, protecting, and empowering those who are left behind. Lastly, individuals should realize that themselves are the actors too because small changes matter when it comes to achieving these goals. Even a small change individuals make can influence the society and the world, which leads to bigger and transformative changes as it is well proven by Gretta Thunberg herself. For example, in order to achieve SDG 13 (halting climate change), even small changes in households like recycling, using bicycles instead of cars, and reducing shower time can all bring about positive outcomes for the environment. 5. Conclusion (Kyeongmook Lee) The 2030 Agenda and its 17 Goals for Sustainable Development are an ambitious commitment of the world community to ensure social inclusion, environmental protection, and sustained and economic growth. At the heart of the Agenda are 5 critical components: People, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership & Planet. There are two important things to note. Holistic approach is very significant because asking the right questions and seeking for right time for solution is important. We need to find the interdependencies between these goals, because each of the goals evokes response for other goals, and this helps us to find root causes and long term solutions. For instance, achieving quality education (SDG 4), clean water along with sanitation (SDG 6), and even no poverty (SDG 1) actually can contribute to solving the problem of gender inequality. Implementing this agenda requires us leading the way towards the vision of a better world within our lifetime. The problem can only be solved if we ask the right questions, only if we seek for the right answers, and only if we take our responsibilities seriously. This also requires many different people from different backgrounds and positions to cooperate for the same goal with this mindset. This creates resonance between the actors, which can not only foster partnerships, but can bring about huge changes in small and big communities. And the UN is the one who provides place that these actors can bring their perspective to the table and discuss which one is the best. Then, how do we bring these actors together? The answer to this question is that actors are all of us here and we must be one of them. And publicizing the seriousness of the problem and the significance of the SDGs is crucial in order to realize this. Even a small act like telling your friend about the SDGs has the potential to bring about huge changes. We should always keep in mind that we are the stakeholders on this issue, thus having the shared responsibility to solve this problem. - References            

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ https://www.iso.org/sdgs.html https://www.unglobalcompact.org/ https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2019/The-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Report-2019.pdf https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/news-centre/news/2019/undp-and-samsung-unveil-global-goals-partnership.html https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld https://www.globalgoals.org/ https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals.html https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg15 https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg16 https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg17

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- Final Presentation Slides -

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1. History of Permanent Mission of Korea to the United Nations - Gyu Ri Kim (Pusan Foreign Language High School) The Permanent Mission of Korea to the United Nations was found in 1948 in Washington DC. And when the Korean War happened in 1950, the United Nations provided Korea by sending United Nation soldiers to the war along with other support even after the war. Korea officially became a part of the United Nations in 1991 and has contributed to issues like international security, development, human rights (Three Pillars of the UN) and climate change using its background of achieving democratic settlement, economic development and human rights promotion. In 1999, the Permanent Mission of Korea to the United Nations moved into the building which is located at the New York City in 1996 and 2013 the Mission became a nonpermanent member of the Security Council and even got accepted to the UN General Assembly in 2001. The Mission has also been in the Economic and Social Council and the Human Rights Councils along with other councils and later in 2007, Ban Ki Moon became the Secretary General of the UN. In 2013 to 2014, Korea actively contributed to discussing the major security issues including the Korean Peninsula issues, peacekeeping, regional conflict, women, children and civil rights. 2. Three pillars of The Republic of Korea Permanent Mission to the UN - Minha Lee (Gwacheon Foreign Language High School) Famine, disease and discrimination, there are still many problems in the world that we must give hands. The United Nations always pay attention to these issues, especially peace and security, development, and human rights. a.

Peace and Security (Life itself)

International peace and security is one of the UN's three major missions, along with development and human rights. As disputes continue throughout the world, the role of the United Nations for international peace and security is still important. In particular, since UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to make the

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year 2017 as "A Year for Peace" and declared conflict prevention as his top priority, the UN’s efforts and activities for security have been implemented even more active. The Republic of Korea has been committed to contributing to the promotion of international peace by actively participating in the peace and security activities of the UN. Although it was only a short period of 26 years since Korea joined UN in 1991, it has already accepted an appointment of non-permanent members of the Security Council twice in 1996-97 and 2013-14, the UN Security Council, which is primarily responsible for international peace keeping, and also, they have also been contributing to the UN Peacekeeping Operations (PKO). In addition, we have been expanding our role in conflict prevention activities of the UN, paying attention to the importance of conflict prevention.

b. Development (Better life) At the United Nations, development for people's better life is a very important issue. From 2000 to 2015, the UN targeted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and from 2016 to 2030, the country will operate and develop the country with the SDGs. Unlike MDGs, which mainly focused on economic aspects, the UN has set 17 international common goals regarding economy, society and the environment to solve the universal, global, economic and social problems of mankind. UN’s ultimate development goal is ‘no one is left behind’. To achieve this goal, The Republic of Korea Permanent Mission to the UN mainly focuses on SDG 4(quality education), 10(reduced inequality), 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions). c.

Human Rights (Life with dignity)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1: “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Since the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights was adopted as international law in 1976, although not legally binded, the protection of rights and freedom stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is reflected in the constitutions and national legal systems in many countries. It also provides the basis for a 74


number of human rights treaties, and has become a clear standard for universal human rights which should be promoted and protected in all countries. 3. Sustainable Development Goals - Gyu Ri Kim (Pusan Foreign Language High School), Minseong Kim (North London Collegiate School Jeju) SDGs stands for Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Development Goals define as a group of goals for peace and prosperity to develop the status quo while still making sure the future generation has access to resources. SDGs consists of 17 goals and 169 targets that are aimed to be achieved in a span of 15 years from 2015 to 2030. The 17 goals can be divided into “the 3 P’s”; people, prosperity and planet-which is quite self-explanatory. SDGs can also be explained as a link to MDGs which stand for Millennium Development Goals that was established from 2000 to 2015. If MDGs were focused on social fields like medical or poverty for developing countries, SDGs would be more focused on economic development for all countries and making sure that everybody is getting the benefits of these development; “leave no one behind”. Out of SDGs’ 17 goals, currently, the goals that Korea is contributing to the most are SDG 4, quality education, SDG 10, reducing inequalities among and between nations and SDG 16, peace, justice and strong institutions. Also, Korea was part of the 2016 voluntary national review of the high-level political forum on sustainable development.

a.

Goal 4: Quality Education

The first Sustainable Development Goal that the Permanent Department of Korea is most focused on is the 4th goal which is “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”, ‘Quality Education’ for short. According to research in 2017, there are approximately 262 million children aged 6 to 17 did not attend school and more than half of the population did not meet the minimum standards in reading and mathematics. Likewise, the education standards are not keeping its pace to the development happening at the moment. The solution to this issue however, cannot be just getting all children into schools either as research from 2015 shows despite two thirds of the people who aren’t 75


meeting the minimum standards in education are actually attending school, these people were either not learning in the classrooms or dropouts. Also, there has been little development of the amount of primary teachers who are trained; 85%. This shows that the standards of educations need to be improved for upgraded outcomes of learning especially for women and the minority. Despite Korea’s high ranks in any factor education, there is one trait of education that Korea still lacks in. The aspect of education that Korea lacks the most is what they call Transformative Education which is the education or process of learning to form one’s character. Global Citizenship Education is one of the main examples of Transformative Education. The main idea of being a global citizen is “mutual understanding and respect of our differences”. Some examples of these differences would be cultural differences between people or countries or religious differences. However, some argue that this kind of education should not be prioritized at the moment since the world is still lacking basic education like mathematics and reading or basic skills for certain jobs to develop the economy. Despite these opinions, The Permanent Mission of Korea to the United Nations is still making efforts to achieve improving these kinds of educations such as collaborating with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

b. Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities The second SDG that the Permanent Mission of South Korea to the UN puts more importance on is SDG 10, Reduced Inequalities. As mentioned in the full name of “Reduced Inequalities Within and Among States”, this sustainable development goal tackles inequality that exists in our society, which can be classified into two groups: within and among states. This SDG recognizes two groups of inequality: power and income. Income inequality exists within states with extreme economic inequality within its population and among states, which can be explained with three category of states: HICs, MICs and LICs. Power inequality, which is more recognizable among states, comes to an effect in decision-making process. Even in the UN, there is clear power inequality among member states. Targets of this SDG includes “progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 percent of the population at a rate higher than the national average” and “empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status”. This SDG argues that everyone should be given an equal chance and regard inequality as the challenge to people’s life, in particular, the bottom 40%.

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In particular, Deputy Ambassador Park introduced the fact that the Republic of Korea is one of the most extreme cases of inequality, which is eight to the last in the most recent report. He has explained about the Korean government’s effort to tackle inequality by raising the minimum wage. Minimum wage of South Korea has consistently increased from 4000 Korean won in 2009 to 8350 Korean won in 2019. Even though this can be successful to reduce inequality within South Korea, the Deputy Ambassador explained the disadvantages of this method. One of them is pressurizing employers, especially small businesses. Just raising the minimum wage has made small business owners to feel pressured and has led them to, in extreme cases, fire their employees to sustain their profits. This is only one of the disadvantages, arguing that tackling inequality is not as simple as that. In addition, the Deputy Ambassador discussed the impact of technological development in inequality among states. Technological development including the development of robots can provide developing states like MICs a chance to develop further as the mankind is relying more on technology and science. However, technological development can also mean loss of job for the working class, conveying the idea that this intensifies the inequality not only among but also within states.

Even though tackling inequality is a tough task, the Permanent Mission of South Korea to the UN has made several efforts to reduce inequalities. To begin with, the Permanent Mission participated in SDG 10 Group of Friends Assembly, explaining the impact of the development of public education’s quality and accessibility to reduction in inequality, which is also linked to SDG 4 Quality Education. Moreover, during South Korea’s presidency of ECOSOC, South Korea hosted the ECOSOC special assembly on the topic of inequality for the first time on 30th March 2016, which is a symbolic event that led to other efforts on this SDG. Since the launch of Sustainable Development Goals, South Korea has been the key member of SDG 10 and will continue to work hard to reduce inequalities within and among states. c.

Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

The third and last SDG that the Permanent Mission focuses more on is SDG 16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. With the full name “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”, this

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sustainable development goal aims to create peaceful, just and robust institutions to protect civilians. Even though citizens around the world have been more exposed to justice and peace, the level of peaceful, just, effective, inclusive and accountable institutions is still uneven around the world, with some in need for instant protection from life-threatening dangers. Targets of this SDG includes “significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere” and “end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children”. This SDG is mostly about protection of civilians from violence and injustice.

In particular, Deputy Ambassador Park conveyed the idea that peace is essential to achieve development, with the idea that development is just following peace and justice. He mentioned that South Korea plays a big role in this SDG with being in charge of two important organizations that perform this goal. However, the Deputy Ambassador also mentioned that there are several limitations to achieve this SDG as this is the last one to be included with a lot of backlash from several member states and UN agencies, with them arguing that this is too vague and fantastical. Regardless of criticisms on this SDG, Deputy Ambassador highlighted that this SDG is equally essential to other SDGs, which is the reason why South Korea puts more importance on this SDG. The Permanent Mission of South Korea to the UN has made several explicit statements specifically on this SDG. At the 21st Anniversary of the Rome Statute of the ICC, which South Korea co-hosted with Australia, the Permanent Mission made clear that it has contributed to tackle impunity and emphasized the enhancement of universality especially in Asia-Pacific region. Moreover, as a member state of the Bureau of ICC-ASP, South Korea make efforts to achieve SDG 16 through the development of international criminal justice regime. At the event during General Assembly of the UN, celebrating one year of the adoption of SDG, the Permanent Mission has made several statements on this SDG. First, the Permanent Mission asked for multi-stakeholder partnership where “everyone participates, works and shares the benefits together”. The Permanent Mission borrowed Administrator Clark’s idea and highlighted the idea that multistakeholder engagement is essential for policy development and for voices of the marginalized to be heard,

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which goes along with the core spirit of SDGs “living no one behind”. Moreover, the Permanent Mission elaborated the idea that e-government, transparency and public service are the “central pillars for building inclusive societies”, arguing that integrated information management spans and capacity building of people are important to upgrade public services. Lastly, along with Centre on International Cooperation of New York University, the Permanent Mission hosted “Pathfinders for Peaceful, just and Inclusive Societies”, one of the initiatives of SDG 16. The Permanent Mission mentioned the movie “Parasite” by Director Bong, the winner of Cannes Film Festival, conveying that no society is free from inequality and marginalization, which is also linked to SDG 10. Since the launch of Sustainable Development Goals, South Korea has been a key member of SDG 14, making a step towards peace, justice and strong institutions. 4. Issues a.

International Peace and Security - Minseong Kim (North London Collegiate School Jeju)

The Permanent Mission of South Korea pursues international peace and security, one of the three main pillars of the United Nations alongside development and human rights. South Korea has been one of the most active supporters of the UN’s peace and security activities. Since 1991, when South Korea first joined the UN, South Korea has been a non-permanent member of the Security Council, the ‘brain’ of the UN, twice in 1996-1997 and 2013-2014, which increased South Korea’s role in UN’s peacekeeping mission. Peacebuilding Commission’s Organizational Committee, which Ambassador Cho Tae Yul chaired for the year 2017, is a part of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) that plays an important role for political actors in post-conflict Peacebuilding efforts. South Korea has always been the leading member to prevent conflicts and sustain peace through communication and engagement with a lot of UN bodies.

Furthermore, the Permanent Mission also focuses on disarmament and nonproliferation. According to the United Nations Security Council resolution 1540, all states are obliged to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to non-state actors such as terrorists. As the 2013-14 Chair of the 1540 Committee, which monitors and facilitates the resolution, and the host of the Asia-Pacific regional industry

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conference, South Korea has played a central role in implementing the 1540 resolution, by strengthening export control and wisely making responsive measure to the possibility of weapons of mass destruction by non-state actors. In addition, South Korea did not stop there with joining and actively participating in all the five international export control regimes: Wassenaar Arrangement, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Zangger Committee, the Missile Technology Control Regime, and the Australia Group. As the Korean government has co-hosted the annual ROK-UN Joint Conference on Disarmament and Nonproliferation with the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs in Jeju since 2001, the government has opened a space for in-depth and contemporary discussions on the topics of global disarmament and nonproliferation. b. Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons - Hyejun Mun (Brent International School of Manila) Hedgehogs pull out their spines when they feel they are being threatened. This acts as the same reason behind the DPRK’s possession of nuclear weapons. They feel as if they need nuclear weapons to protect or represent themselves to the world. Ambassador Park Chull joo said that the permanent mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN places importance in supporting North Korea to build a stable society, which will most likely allow them to abandon their spines, the nuclear weapons. Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons is a goal that the permanent mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN and the whole world should constantly strive for. Republic of Korea, especially, lives in the constant fear from the threat of the DPRK, a country that possesses nuclear weapons. On August 6, 2019, DPRK fired ballistic missiles once again into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The reason behind this intimidating action was the joint military exercise between Republic of Korea and USA. DPRK has decided to fire deadly missiles for they simply could not accept this action of the Republic of Korea. To approach these countries that possess nuclear weapons, UN and the permanent mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN must take a progressive approach with patience. They must not stimulate these countries by threatening them or forcing them to abandon their weapons. The global society has to cooperate in improving the national security of each country by working on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Increase in national security may provide an incentive for countries to give up their weapons. The permanent mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN is eager to conduct conferences with other countries to discuss ways to create a safe environment wherein nuclear disarmament is encouraged. Other than creating a safe environment for the countries to voluntarily abandon their nuclear weapons, there must be treaties that prevent these countries to act freely only for their own interest. There is already an existing treaty called the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, otherwise known as the NPT. However, there are 4 countries that did not sign the treaty: North Korea, Israel, India, and Pakistan. Specifically, North Korea withdrew from the treaty on January 10, 2003; however, no countries recognize this withdrawal, including the Republic of Korea. Thus, the world cannot be rid of the fear of nuclear weapons. Almost reaching its 50th anniversary, the UN is going to hold an NPT review conference in 2020. This is a significant event where countries can cooperate to reform and strengthen the NPT. They can discuss the loopholes in the treaty and further come up with possible suggestions that can improve the treaty. Republic of Korea will also participate in this conference and contribute ideas that will build a safe society without nuclear weapons. Moreover, the permanent mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN strongly supports the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) that has played a significant role in preventing nuclear explosions, for either civilian or military purposes. As the president for the 2019 CTBT preparatory conference, the permanent mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN puts in great effort in whether the treaty is being practiced. Other than the NPT and CTBT, Republic of Korea places importance in the fissile material cut-off treaty (FMCT), an international agreement that prevents any production of the 2 focal building blocks of nuclear weapons. Also, Republic of Korea actively involves in the International

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Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification (IPNDV). In 2018, Seoul held a IPNDV meeting, and it is cooperating with other member states to come up with a feasible solution until 2020.

Ambassador Park Chull joo stated that the permanent mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN also places importance in supporting the DPRK to stand on its own. Republic of Korea tried and is trying to support the economy of DPRK through many ways such as Kaesong Industrial Region. This industrial region is where Republic of Korea can develop an industry using the DPRK labor. This was an agreed project between the two Koreas that could really assist the DPRK’s economy. However, this project came to an end when Park Geun-Hye, the former president of the Republic of Korea, gave an order for all of the managers to return. The reason behind this was the fact that the DPRK used the money earned from the project in producing nuclear weapons. This act of DPRK has denied the purpose of the entire project to support the DPRK to voluntarily surrender their weapons. This event proves that the plan of providing aid to the countries possessing nuclear weapons needs more careful planning and some regulations. The help that the global society offers must not be abused in further improving the nuclear weapons. There must be some qualifications or terms that prohibits the countries from abusing the aid from the global society. The permanent mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN will continue to collaborate with other countries in amending and perfecting this method to get rid of all nuclear weapons around the globe. In social media, the reactions of the Koreans towards the government sending aid to the DPRK is quite skeptical. They are not pleased with sending aid despite their ungrateful attitude. The Republic of Korea and the whole world must be patient in the process of encouraging DPRK to abandon their nuclear weapons. At the moment, it may seem as if there are no accomplishments and the DPRK is continuing to threaten the Republic of Korea. However, these small aids and steps of Republic of Korea will lead the world to a safer environment where no one has to live in the fear of weapons that could kill thousands of lives. I believe this is a challenge that is worth taking in order for us to live in a better world.

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c.

Climate change and Development - Hyejeon Ko (Gyeonggi Academy of Foreign Language)

Most people think that the UN deals only with peace and security, but they also care about development activity involved to prevent crisis and controversial issues. Especially, the permanent mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN takes a significant role in development and pursuing a green environment. As development came to the fore as well as issues regarding climate changes, the term ‘development’ has become a relevantly critical issue. The contributions of the United Nations to foster international development was first brought up as a decisive standard in the shape in 2000. MDGs covered the dimensions of economics and was planned until 2015. However, as the period ended, UN created another scheme called the SDGs. It is the millennium agenda which targeted 193 countries to pursue the goals. SDGs stands for sustainable development goals and which continues until 2030 with 17 goals: no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, life on land, peace justice strong institutions and partnerships.

MDGs only dealt with economic matters whereas SDGs dealt all economic, social, and environmental matters. Also, SDG’s crucial goal is social inclusion leaving no one behind, and it includes climate change issues. Furthermore, SDGs are focused to both developed and developing countries through implementing and reporting between them. Whereas MDGs have developing countries only for report, to achieve 8 permanent goals. Taking a deeper look inside of SDG’s essence, it implements no left outs. There are several big principles to maintain, an in critical forums, countries present their process and Korea has once did it as well. North Korea will also report their process next year, and this indicates that they also consider this importantly. South Korea actively participated in discussions on key agenda items such as rule of law, good governance, education, rural development, women and the disabled, contributing to the establishment of results documents, and achieving both economic development and democracy. Based on our development experience, we are making efforts to spread our exemplary cases. In particular, from July 2015 to July 2016,

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the first year of the launch of the new development target system, the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) chair country, the follow-up measures and evaluation system will be implemented. Due to countless developments, there were remarkable triumphs but at the same time, became a threating factor by climate change and disasters causing natural disasters on earth. Change caused by natural processes is usually referred to as global climate variability. Climate change is an identifiable change, primarily global warming that has an extended rate. These grave phenomena are caused mostly because of greenhouse effects. What’s controversial is that this year’s carbon dioxide rate, which is basically the worst more than 400 million parts (ppm). Other than carbon dioxide, Nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons constantly induce Earth’s atmosphere thicker and coax global warming. However, regardless of the fact that climate change crisis is an international crisis, countries are seeking for those who have the largest responsibility for compensation. At this point, a majority of countries shout out that China is most responsible. However, according to statistics virtually the biggest responsibility goes to the U.S, not China. Prominent impacts are shown due to climate change: risings sea levels, loss of land ice, ocean acidification, alteration of the hydrologic cycle, Morea weather anomalies including stronger storms and droughts. Also, it altered growing seasons and yields. What’s most problematic is that due to climate change, habitats of animals are being destroyed, and animals are heading to extinction. In order to eliminate these issues and practically eradicate climate change crisis, in the UN, the FCCC which is ‘Framework Convention on Climate Change’, contributes to make prompt alternatives. The international society and other organizations in the UN made a prominent compromise with countries, called the ‘Paris agreement.’ This agreement was approached as securing political mobilization, and promoting climate action. Thanks to such efforts by the international community, the Paris Agreement officially took effect in November 2016, and Korea secured its status as a party by depositing the ratification letter to the UN Secretary General in November 2016. Our government (South Korea) has been implementing the emission trading system since 2015. Also, in terms of domestic industries, transmission, and construction permanent mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN prepared plans for reducing greenhouse gases. Also, in 2012, our government established a ‘Green Climate Fund’ to mobilize financial assets. The Korean government has implemented the emission trading system since 2015 and submitted the National Contribution Plan (INDC) with the goal of voluntary reduction of greenhouse gases (37% reduction from the forecast of emissions by 2030) to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Roadmap for reduction of greenhouse gases in December 2016 and prepared a plan for implementation in domestic industries, transport, and buildings. In addition, it has actively contributed to the international community's efforts to cope with climate change by hosting the secretariat of the Green Climate Fund in Songdo, Incheon, in October 2012, and contributing funds to support developing countries in response to climate change. Despite the fact that development has fostered to development the facilities and institutions of developing countries, it is controversial because it prevails and fastens climate change; Earth’s temperature rising. Therefore, collision of countries’ stances is still taken place. Regardless of the country, all countries have the responsibility to pursue environmental development. However, developing countries still need the chance to fully use their resources to create firms. UN deals this contradictory crisis by implementing new, green technologies to developing countries. For instance, Germany invented the new millennium green technology which has a huge market volume. This technology has energy efficiency of 837 euros, sustainable water management of 667 billion euros (Greentech). This technology is for green environments, and at the same time bringing industrial revolution to developing countries. Such alternatives bring in compromises between developing countries and countries those who implement. Through these alternatives, economic strength is empowered to developing nations which fundamentally leads to declining disputes among developing regions. With economic support, refugee crisis and issues dealing extremism, terrorism would be eradicated.

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d. Human’s Rights and Humanitarian Assistance - Eo Jin Choi (Busan International Foreign Language of High School) A. Human Rights Eleanor Roosevelt, who was the first lady in United States of America, once said, “Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.” After her husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt finished his presidential term, she didn’t stop making efforts to listen to the people who were not guaranteed their rights. Finally, she participated in adopting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as chairman of the UN Human Rights Commissioner. Nowadays, UDHR plays a role as a worldwide guidebook about liberty and equality, and protect all people’s rights all over the world.

According to the UDHR, Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination. Catering for this definition, there are a lot of major international human rights consultative groups dealing with human rights issues such as the United Nations Human Rights Council and Commission on the Status of Women. Republic of Korea to the UN currently participates in discussions and activities on human rights issues in the United Nations as a member of this consultative group. Republic of Korea is also a country directly involved in seven main international human rights treaties. (These treaties are seven human rights treaty bodies that monitor implementation of the core international human rights treaties: Human Rights Committee (HRC) Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)) Meanwhile, Korea actively participates in discussion on the protection and promotion of human rights of social classes that can be excluded in the course of national and social development. It has also contributed to the mainstream of human rights within the UN system by

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supporting “Right Up-Front initiatives” and supporting the opening of “access centers” for the disabled in UN offices in New York and Bangkok. But despite the efforts of the permanent mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN, it is not clear whether the spread of human rights protection in Korea is taking place. In Korean society, there are still some aspects of human rights that are not well protected. For example, Korea is especially very conservative about women's human rights. The reason for this limitation in Korea is complicated. Above all things, it lasted too long. Korea society has based on Confucianism since ancient times. The Confucian ideas of our society, which began in the Three Kingdoms Period, make us take it for granted to divide the differences between men and women and discriminate them on the grounds of harmony through the division of roles. On this situation of women's human rights in Korea, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women reviewed Korea’s women issues and the government’s response policies at the 8th national report of the CEDAW held at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The committee members at the meeting mentioned the failure to enact a law against discrimination, the continuation of the wage gap between men and women, secondary damage suffered by victims of sexual violence, insufficient response to the US-led campaign and insufficient handling of cyber sexual violence. We should make efforts to protect Korea's better female human rights in the future, noticing what was mentioned at the meeting and "the UN's recommended failure to enact a comprehensive anti-discrimination law." B. Humanitarian Assistance In past years, when Korean War burst forth, Korea has undergone enormous change. In 1952, one reporter at the 『Times of London』, which is a newspaper publishing company in the UK, said ”It would be more reasonable to expect to find roses growing on a garbage heap than a healthy democracy rising out of the ruins of Korea.” Like this, former Korea had things to repair and in many aspects. But now, our country realizes democracy, takes 12th place on the OECD list of per capita gross domestic product (GDP), and becomes the first nation that return aid that we received to other countries where they are in war-time. Based on these special experiences, Korea is able to give help to them which are appropriate for their situations. For example, in 2014, when Ebola Virus was a serious problem, our government and the mission of UN accredited Korean Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) to the Republic of Sierra Leone. In 2015, they accredited relief organization to Nepal for earthquake response. In 2017, they sent the humanitarian aid about 90 million dollars to areas facing humanitarian crises such as Iran, Syria, and Yemen. And finally, in this year (2019), the mission contributed 5 million dollars through the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). Our government and the permanent mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN have been providing support for about 40 disasters abroad every day. Especially, standing on the basis of Sustainable development goals of UN (SDGs), Korea focuses its assistance into goal number 4. Quality Education, 10. Reduce Inequalities, and 16. Peace and Justice and Strong Institutions. About the number 4, the mission of Korea emphasizes to ensure that all girls and boys complete free equitable and quality primary in any situations, regions, and nations. About the number 10, our mission monitors of global financial markets and institutions and try hard to achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40% of the population at a rate higher than the national average. About the number 16, which is the latest decided to be contained in SDGs, our governments and the mission endeavor to promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for all sustainable developments. Through the session with the Human Rights and Humanitarian Assistance of the permanent mission of ROK to the United Nations, I realized that humanitarian assistance and every action that UN does are based on human rights. If there are no basic rights of human beings, there is nothing in our global society. Thanks to the permanent mission for making happen which makes not only South Korea, but also the world better, and I hope that someday, there are no humanitarian crises all over the world.

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5. Q & A Q. “Peace-keeping” is one of the most important functions of the United Nations. However, in our global society, there are numerous conflicts happening around the world that peace is not delivered. And when you mentioned about human rights, you said that women’s rights and children’s rights are not being properly protected in our society. So, I want to ask you about in emergency situations what is Korea's or permanent mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN’s specific efforts to protect women’s and children’s rights? (Eojin Choi from Busan International Foreign Language High School) A. The U.N. General Assembly is basically a forum. Countries come together to discuss the problems of the international community. So rather than an urgent solution to an "urgent situation," the ultimate solution to a chronic problem is discussed and the behavioral part of it is covered by the Member States. That behavioral part can be divided into many different things, some countries do it, some don't do it, some don't just do it, and they just end up as recommendations. Of course, there are cases where professionalism leads to action. The focus of the international community now is "the problem left by the British colonies." In the past, during the British colonial period, there were many people who moved from Muslim countries to the Buddhist country of Myanmar for plantation. They're called "Rohingya" and it's a big problem for both Myanmar and Roma. The majority of those who end up suffering from this complex issue of interests are not men. The majority of women and children are mainly so in the U.N., there's an activity called Action with Women and Peace by the U.N. Women's Organization. He has helped women and children in Los Angeles and rehabilitation for victims of sexual violence. In addition, we are working on similar projects in Central Africa, where civil war is currently taking place. In our society, we strive in many ways to ensure and overcome women's rights and harm and to better establish ourselves in society, along with many NGOs. Q. You said that Korea is focusing on number four out of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially emphasizing transformative education and global leader development. Do you happen to know the specific efforts of the Republic of Korea to implement this? (Hajung Cho from Jeonbuk Foreign Language High School) A. Let me tell you the most representative of our educational part, especially the part of transformative education and global leaders’ education. The U.N. mission tries to improve the educational side by utilizing the part of our lives that is very close. For example, there is “신도림역” in Seoul and if you go across that station, you can find one global organization “UNESCO” which takes charge of global education. One of the most important organizations of UNESCO of Korea is APCEIU, an organization that carry about some businesses such as improving abilities of teachers, researching and developing policies about education, developing some educational dominations and international cooperation project to realize values that global citizen education pursues. In every year, APCEIU calls the representatives from developing countries about 250, and is talking about how we can implement transformative education, catering for their situation. Also, APCEIU makes books and other teaching materials. Due to these efforts of Korea and the UN mission, Korea has become a leading global citizen education player. The most important thing of our country’s policies or effort about education is education that suited to the circumstances of each country. It’s because some developing countries may think that SDGs and global citizen are not suitable their national situations. In the case of Islamic countries, for example, global Citizen Education, which requires the human rights of all people to be respected in every country, is perceived as a compulsion to respect women's rights, which have been lowered by the religious influence of their own country. There are limitations to this, but in fact, this is not a problem that can be solved in the short term, so the Korean mission has continued to make constant efforts in Korea and in the oil market. And I will never stop trying.

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Q. Recently, the DPRK has once again launched a missile towards the sea of the Republic of Korea. As this incident shows, there is a tension between the Republic of Korea and the DPRK until now. Can I ask what the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations does to alleviate this neverending tension between the two countries? (Hyejun Mun from Brent International School of Manila) A. The most urgent issue that the Republic of Korea is facing is the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons in the DPRK. As a member state of the Security Council, the Republic of Korea is eager to participate in leading the DPRK towards abandoning their nuclear weapons. Republic of Korea places importance in supporting the DPRK to build a safe environment where nuclear disarmament in encouraged. Republic of Korea has supported the DPRK through several methods like Kaesong Industrial region. The permanent mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN will constantly strive for the nuclear disarmament of the DPRK. Q. Last August 2nd, The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations has participated in an open debate relating to issues with children and military conflict. Many organizations and countries have contributed in helping the children victimized by the military conflict, mainly the child soldiers. However, this issue is not showing any significant signs of improvement until now. Regarding this issue, what actions are The Permanent Mission of Korea to the United Nations planning to take or is there are any actions in progress? (Lee Gyung Meuk from Minjok Sakwan High School) A. The Permanent Mission of Korea takes care of international security and usually handles situations that are inside the country. However, there are some pressing issues around the globe that the Permanent Mission of Korea involves, and the Children and military conflict issues are one of them. Korea has always been drawing attention to this issue; however, last year was the first time Korea took charge of contributing to this issue due to requests to do so from other countries. Korea is making efforts to make this issue a public discussion internationally. However, this issue is not an issue that Korea is mainly focusing on.

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Q. It is known that Korea provided financial support in terms of refugees regarding the territories of Syria, Iraq, and Yemen multiple times. However, entrance procedures are quite complicated, especially for refugees, and I think this indicates the negative perspective of Koreans towards refugees. What is the stance of Korea when actually “accepting” refugees? (Hye Jeon Ko from Gyeonggi Foreign Language High School) A. Before dealing with any refugee crisis, we need to realize the premise that Korea is the one and only nation that has international refugee laws. Therefore, having complicated procedures are inevitable, and it doesn’t always factor negatively. Due to an enormous scale of refugees, there is a proportion of individuals who misuse refugee laws for themselves. For instance, there are people who has sufficient financial assets and households, but they act as if they are refugees just because they want to earn more money. Going into other countries as refugees is not a controversial fault, in fact that there are those who technically ‘misuse’ it is what makes certain institutions problematic. Furthermore, accepting refugees is a conception which is very relative. Just because an arbitrary country accepts a lot of refugees doesn’t mean that the nation is good, in general or is contributing more for the international society than others. Other nations may contribute in different ways, different facilities or roots. ‘The number of accepting refugees’ shouldn’t be the standard of determining whether a country is respectable or not. Therefore, if a country has the affordable financial assets and stable economic, social backgrounds, it is mandatory to accept as much refugees as possible. However, if a country doesn’t have enough infrastructure or facilities, it doesn’t have to be compulsory. Also, a majority of refugees entering the territories of South Korea are mostly people who received the help of brokers, not those who immediately need helping hands. At this point, Korea is supporting these refugees through giving them workplaces which is the most critical part of sustaining their lives. Most people oppose accepting refugees because they concern about jobs and workplaces getting more difficult and challenging to enter. However, the government is supporting them with jobs that people merely will to do. For example, refugees are given jobs that deals with welding technologies. It is an area of technologies that is relevant with our JOSUN industries, and refugees with those jobs are temporarily staying in Korea. Through these indications of the delegate from the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN, we are contributing the best to assist refugees from different places around the world. - References         

Daily Sabah Istanbul. “Report: Turkey ranks first in international humanitarian aid” Sun. 14 September 2014. “Treaties & Regimes.” Nuclear Threat Initiative - Ten Years of Building a Safer World, “GreenTech Made in Germany Environmental Technology Atlas for Germany.” GreenTech Made in Germany | Environmental Technology Atlas for Germany | Home, \ “About the Sustainable Development Goals - United Nations Sustainable Development.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/. “About the Sustainable Development Goals - United Nations Sustainable Development.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/. “GreenTech Made in Germany Environmental Technology Atlas for Germany.” GreenTech Made in Germany | Environmental Technology Atlas for Germany | Home, www.greentech-made-in-germany.de/en/. “Treaties & Regimes.” Nuclear Threat Initiative - Ten Years of Building a Safer World, www.nti.org/learn/treaties-andregimes/treaties/. Www.dailysabah.com. “Report: Turkey Ranks First in International Humanitarian Aid.” DailySabah, Www.dailysabah.com, 9 Dec. 2014, www.dailysabah.com/politics/2014/12/09/report-turkey-ranks-first-in-international-humanitarian-aid. 주 유엔 대한민국 대표부, overseas.mofa.go.kr/un-ko/index.do.

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- Final Presentation Slides -

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- Table of Contents 1. Introduction (Yae Lynn Moon) a. History of UN ODA b. Goals of UN ODA c. What disarmament brings to the world 2. Cause and Effect (Chaehyun Yoo) a. Introduction of disarmament b. Causes of disarmament c. Effects of disarmament 3. Current Situation (Jisung Nam) a. What is currently happening with regard to disarmament? b. Is the problem getting worse, or going better? c. How is disarmament affecting the current people? 4. Solutions (Su Min Han) a. General solutions on disarmament b. What UN has been doing to help solve the issue c. What countries have been doing to help fix the problem d. Why the world needs a solution on disarmament 5. Q&A (Ju Won Kim) a. Questions and answers that were raised and discussed during the lecture

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1. Introduction The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) was formed in January 1988 as the Department for Disarmament Affairs. It was created as part of the Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s plan to reform the UN. In 1992 working under the Department of Political Affairs it became the Centre for Disarmament Affairs. By 1997 it was reversed back into the Department for Disarmament Affairs. In 2007, the appointment of Sergio de Queiroz Duarte of Brazil as Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs by the then Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon led the department becoming the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. Following the retirement of Sergio de Queiroz Duarte, Angela Kane was established as the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. As of 1 May 2017, Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu has assumed the role of Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. One of the most important goals for UN Disarmament is to encourage nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation. It also promotes the abolition or reducing the number of armaments of a country and its capability to provoke war. The structure of UNODA splits into five branches which are CD Secretariat & Conference Support Branch (Geneva), Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), Branch Conventional Arms Branch (CAB), Regional Disarmament Branch (RDB), and Information and Outreach Branch (IOB). What disarmament brings to the world: such hypothetical question can only be answered with a basis of limited evidence and can be only based on supposition. Disarmament is a necessary component for world peace which makes it unlikely to be achieved. If disarmament is achieved, it means that there is no reason for conflict between nations. Many nations will be at peace with each other and there would be no room for complacency. Although disarmament is a factor of achieving world peace, if achieved it means that it does not bring world peace, it rather brings peace to nuclear disarmament.

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2. Cause and Effect Disarmament is an important factor and issue at the United Nations. The first-ever resolution was about disarmament; therefore, it is one of the current problem at heart. The UN ODA interferes with all types of weapons that are aired on news, newspaper, and such media. The UN ODA tries to achieve world peace through disarmament--getting rid of weapons, globally. However, if we imagine a world with zero weapons, how are countries supposed to defend themselves when needed? This is why the UN ODA is trying to promote the use of weaponry only for legitimate purposes, which means there must be no civilians attacked. Weapons are critical and necessary with the sole intention of protection. During the lecture by Mr. Aaron Yoo of UN ODA, he mentioned numerous causes that leads to creating of weaponry, and achieving world peace. The main cause of creating weapons is due to security dilemma. It is a phenomenon wherein a particular country catalyzes weaponry solely to shield themselves. However, the other neighboring countries feel danger and threatened by that particular country with weapons. This is why more countries generate weapons apparently to “protect themselves” because they are “threatened” by countries that hold armament in their hands. Eventually, this cycle is called security dilemma. Moving on, how do countries and member states unravel the problem of using weapons for threatening and attacking citizens? Treaties and agreements are made by various member states to regulate the armaments in their respective countries. Treaties started with dealing with the main four mass destructive weapons and how to regulate them. The four mass destructive weapons are named chemical, nuclear, biological, and radiological weapons, respectively. Looking in retrospect, there are numerous agreements that had been passed that are related to the mass destructive weapons. So far, chemical weapons are considered fully illegal, no matter what. They entered into force in 1997 but are currently banned from force. However, the big problem with chemical weapons is that it is still difficult to regulate the usage of these weapons in countries that are not part of the treaties related to this--an example being Syria. Moving on to biological weapons, these are nonetheless illegal as well.

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Currently, there are no designated organizations that controls the biological weaponry; that is why the world is keeping their fingers crossed to ensure that there will be no massive destruction using biological weapons. Lastly, nuclear and radiological weapons are not completely illegal; however, they are regulated by organizations and governments.

But as the society evolves and as the fourth industrial revolution has made an approach, member states are trying to set standards and limitations for AI technological weapons. If the past treaties were made for the main destructive weapons, current compacts are focused on AI weapons such as but not limited to killer robots and drones. The different member state representatives are working hand-in-hand to set regulations and guidelines for these types of armaments as they decide for themselves without the need of human approval in force. The robotic weaponry that we see on TV are no longer just movie theories and CGs--they have become our reality that needs fixation. The effect of various treaties and compacts among member states will definitely be a success only if countries decide for themselves to lower down their arms and promote world peace. A circumscribed definition of peace may not yet be solved; however, progress will lead to change. All kinds of treaties and resolutions that have been passed so far will only make an effect when words convert to action. Through current agreements and decisions, the future is designed. 3. Current Situation In the last decade, lots of weapons were developed but at the same time, numerous amounts of people died due to weapons as well. There are 4 weapon representatives such as Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, and Missile. Accordingly, such countries are well known for their weapon state. ď‚&#x;

United States and Russia

After the Arms Race during the Cold War, nuclear negotiations grew serious and over a few decades many agreements such as a treaty to limit defenses against intercontinental ballistic missiles were signed in order

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to prevent a future “nuclear war”. In October 2018, United States President Donald Trump declared that America would withdraw from the treaty on Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces. During the past few years, many deals on Arms Control has been unraveled. There is only one nuclear treaty between Russia and the United States that is in place. New Start was signed in 2010 but this treaty will lapse in 19 months. Although Russia is keen on an extension, Trump is the opposite. 

Iraq

Nuclear: About 40 kilograms of uranium compounds were stored in the Mosul table, which was controlled by the IS from mid-2014 to early 2017. The material, however, is not believed to include enriched uranium in the uranium compound, making it difficult for the IS to use it as any type of weapon. In September 2014, the United States and Iraq signed a joint-action plan to strengthen cooperation in combating the threat of nuclear terrorism. Chemical: Iraq became a member of the Chemical Weapons Convention in February 2009 and established the National Monitoring Directorate to ensure full compliance with the country's obligations under the Convention. In its initial declaration to the Organization of the Chemical Weapons in March 2009, Iraq announced "two bunkers carrying rechargeable and non-charged chemical weapons munitions, some precursor bodies and five previous chemical weapons production facilities (CWPFs).

Syria

Chemical: In July 2012, the Syrian government officially acknowledged the existence of chemical stockpiles for the first time. Accordingly, Syria pledged to eliminate its stockpile of chemical weapons when it joined the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013, but experts are skeptical of Syria's declaration that it will remove all weapons. Syria submitted its official declaration on Oct. 24, 2013, after submitting detailed information, including the name, type, and quality of chemical weapons, the OPCW on Sept. 19, 2013. The report declared about 1,300 metric tons for 20 different chemicals, including sulfur mustard and precursor chemicals, 12 storage facilities, and 27 production facilities.

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Missiles: Ballistic Missiles - SS-21-B (Scarab-B): Battlefield short-range, road mobile ballistic missile with an estimated range of 120km. SS-1-C (Scud-B): Short-range road mobile ballistic missile with an estimated range of 300km. Missiles: Cruise Missiles - SS-N-3B Sepal (SS-C-1B): Submarine-launched cruise missile with an estimated range of 300-400km. Missiles: Cruise Missiles - SS-N-3B Sepal (SS-C-1B): Land-launched cruise missile with an estimated range of 300km.

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North Korea

Nuclear: Diplomatic relations eased in early 2018 after years of heightened regional tensions and the North's frequent nuclear and ballistic missile tests. In April, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared an end to all nuclear and ICBM tests, and also participated in a summit with his South Korean counterpart. Kim met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12, 2018, the first-ever summit between North Korea and the U.S. During the summit, North Korea vowed to "work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. However, no agreement was made between the two countries or any substantial progress toward denuclearization at the second summit held in Hanoi, Vietnam, from Feb. 27-28, 2019.North Korea resumed test-firing of short-range ballistic missiles in May 2019, clearing the venue for the first round of diplomatic talks in more than 18 months. ď‚&#x;

Iran

Nuclear: U.S. President Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to thwart negotiations with Iran, but the U.S. administration initially supported it. On May 8, 2018, Trump officially withdrew the U.S. from JCPOA and announced the imminent rebalancing of all nuclear-related sanctions. He claimed the core of the deal is flawed, citing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement in early 2000 that Iran hid its nuclear weapons development program and Iran's support for terrorism support and ballistic missile pursuits from the international community. In particular, Trump did not claim that Iran violated specific terms of

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agreement. Iran has expressed its willingness to stay at JCPOA despite the U.S. withdrawal, while all other P5+1 states have reiterated their willingness to fully implement the deal.

Missile: Iran is not part of The Hague Code of Conduct on Missile Technology Control or the proliferation of ballistic missiles or the member of Missile technology control regime. In 2015, the U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 2231 that called on Iran to "do no activities related to ballistic missiles designed to carry nuclear weapons" to support the implementation of the JCPOA. The United States, Britain, France and Germany have argued that Iran's subsequent ballistic missile tests are "unmatched" and run counter to UNSCR 2231 - most recently in 2017 the United States imposed sanctions on Iran. 

India

Nuclear: First of all, India is not in NPT. In 2018, India's stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU) was estimated at 4.0 ± 1.4 tons and its stockpile of weapons-grade plutonium was estimated at 0.58 ± 0.15 tons. India has increased its enrichment capacity at an Indian rare metal plant near Mysore in Karnataka to fuel growing domestic nuclear power production, and continues to operate a Druba plutonium-producing reactor. This expansion of fissile material stocks has sparked speculation about India's interest in developing thermonuclear weapons. 

Republic of Korea

Nuclear: South Korea's civilian nuclear sector is highly developed, with 23 reactors supplying one-third of the country's electricity. Two more reactors are under construction. 2017 in June, Moon Jae-in, "I will restrict South Korea's nuclear power forward" president, to South Korea, the ongoing future reactor and freeze all construction. To cancel. Many of the people opposed to the two partially completed in October 2017, the government two hit the reactor resumed work on nuclear energy, but for decades to come. Phased development plans.

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4. Solutions The solutions that UN makes for the societal issue is thought to be one of the most important factors. There are mainly two types of treaties: the mass destruction weapon treaties and conventional weapon treaties. First, for the mass destructive weapon treaties UN created a treaty called the Non Proliferation Treaty. This treaty is when the UN monitors and prevents the nations to develop and make new nuclear weapons. There are 5 nations that are allowed to do this action which are the P5s: UK, US, China, Russia and France. The next treaty is the treaty of test ban. This treaty is when UN bans these tests of mass destructive weapons. This gave a successful method which made the rate decline to 0 percent just before NK made another one. Lastly, the chemical weapon treaty is described as one of the most important since chemical weapons are described very deadly and harmful. This treaty made the nations illegal to produce chemical weapons. The next type of treaty that the UN gives includes conventional weapons. The Arms Trade Treaty is a treaty of when the government checks if their citizens use their weapons properly, without using them in a harmful manner, just to defend themselves. The Coordination Action of Small Arms treaty strengthens the policy of the conventional weapons owned by individuals. What we, as young people can do helps the society. There are three main types. First, there is a poster contest for young people to join and they can promote the urgency of disarmament and inform their surroundings about it. The next type is the Art of Peace and this lets everyone communicate and cooperate the broad topic of peace itself. The last thing we can do is join the disarmament education. This is led by UN women officers and this informs teachers and students of the current status quo and what we as citizens can help the government with making a safe and secure society.

5. Q&A Q. There are numerous situations where people make wrong decisions to kill people with their hand guns because of video games that encourage and influence how they view the society. Other than Disarmament Education, does the UN do something to prevent this from happening? A. Especially in the aftermath of many mass shooting events in the United States, multiple discussions are happening in a lot of dimensions, which contributes to this kind of behavior. I do believe, yes, video games can make people violent, and the UN does recognize that effect and we try to ensure that all member states 99


have their regulations on how to categorize certain contents that may be harmful to young people. But at the same time, we don't believe that it is the only reason why there are mass shootings in the United States or any other parts of the world. For instance, Japan and Korea also play a lot of video games, but we don't see mass shootings being at a big epidemic there right now, right? So, it's a multi-faceted situation; there are many causes and effects that lead to this kind of symptom. The UN promotes discussions amongst various sectors of the civil society and also the government and deal with multiple issues trying to find the solution that can issue all of those issues, rather than trying to find a one-fits-all-situation kind of solutions, because I don't think there is such a solution. So that's what the UN is trying to do. The UN facilitates dialogue among stakeholders to drag people together and trying to find creative solutions. Q. There are many conflicts with gun controls these days, with something regrettable that happened in the US. But one of the amendments in the US Constitution states that civilians are allowed to have guns to protect their own lives and security. What do you think is the fair limitations for guns to be given to civilians? A. Unfortunately, I am not in the position to say, "What is the absolute standard that this is what you should do." The correct "textbook answer" for me is that, I believe that the wise people of the United States of America would make the correct decision to decide for themselves what the correct standard is, and we respect their sovereign decision. That is the official answer. My personal answer is; I believe it is a very common sense. I agree that there are certain countries that believe civilian should have the right to bear arms, which I can respect. But for instance, you don't need machine guns to protect yourselves. Really? Military great weapons so that you can fight off burglars, robbers, or to fight off whom, right? My commonsense idea is that then why not regulate those kinds of weapons so that they are not sold everywhere? Q. What is the UN ODC’s position regarding the United States’ withdrawal on May 6, 2018 from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran Deal? A. P5 (China, Russia, UK, France, US) plus Germany made a deal with Iran to limit their nuclear activities to a reasonable standard so that they won't be able to produce nuclear weapons right away. The United States, unfortunately, withdrew from the deal and this prompted the conflict between Iran and the US. One thing that I want to make clear is that the United Nations cannot tell member states what to do. So, when the United States decided to leave the deal, as a sovereign country, the US had every right to decide to leave the deal. It is very regrettable because the UN stands for multilateral diplomacy, and it was held as the diplomatic achievement that led to a peaceful resolution of the nuclear tension of the middle east. So the Secretary-General would continuously urge member states to not abandon the deal and try to salvage whatever can be salvaged. But unfortunately, the UN does not have any authority over any member states' actions. So it is actually up to you to push your government to make the right decision, and we try to do a lot of public outreach to make sure that the public knows that the best way to solve any conflict is through peaceful diplomacy rather than by conflicts, however, we do not have any capacity nor authority to tell member states what to do. Q. What is the sole purpose of countries always aiming for a more advanced weapon? Is it for their own protection? Or to attack when needed? A. This is a popular concept called "security dilemma." It is when one country's action to secure itself becomes a threat to the other countries. For instance, Japan has their nuclear weapon. They say that this is for peaceful purposes; we just want to make sure that nobody can nuclear attack us again. Would you feel safe as Koreans? I think a lot of people would argue that if Japan has nuclear weapons, Korea should have nuclear weapons. Then, of course, Taiwan, Singapore, and Southeast Asian countries will suddenly feel threaten that if Northeast Asian countries have nuclear weapons, then Taiwan should also have nuclear weapons because China is our enemy. Now Taiwan has a nuclear weapon, then all these, Vietnam, Indonesia, 100


and countries that have a territorial dispute with Taiwan suddenly feel they need nuclear weapons. For any technology or weapons, when one country does it, all the other countries are threatened by it, and therefore, wants to catch up, and they don't stop there and advance, which prompts the original country to do more. That is a very serious dilemma that we face in our everyday lives, and the way that we try to address this kind of dilemma is maybe if you open up a little bit and have a dialogue. By opening up our defense weapon systems, saying this is how we defend ourselves and comparing documents and policies, and understanding that their weapons are not for attacking purposes and I can trust your intentions, therefore I will stand down. This kind of mutual agreement/understanding is what we call, "confidence-building", and there is a certain measure that can be taken between neighbor countries or regional rivals to mutually agree to stand down. That is what we try to do more to address this security dilemma. Q. If there is any possibility of war, how does the UN actually prepare, and is the UN currently preparing or setting up anything for the tensions between South Korea, North Korea, China, Japan, and the United States? A. First of all, about 95% of all the UN's work worldwide is prevention. We do not 'respond' that much. It's all about prevention. For instance, I mentioned work on preventing terrorists, or potential terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, or biological weapons. The world has yet seen nuclear-weapon-terrorist attacks. The hard part about prevention is that there is no way to prove that because of this, that has not happened. But at the same time, that should not be the reason not to work on prevention because maybe this is the only thing that is blocking the terrorists from acquiring those weapons. So yes, we do a lot of preparations, we do a lot of work to ensure at least as to the best of our abilities, so that those kinds of violent conflicts or any misuse of weapons, especially weapons of mass destructions or any of sorts, do not happen—but we can't be perfect. So, it comes to what we do after such a thing happens. We also run a multitude of programs that focus on response by helping member states to be able to respond if incidents were to happen. If there are terrorist attacks of using biological weapons, what do we do? There is a program that has a roster of medical experts that can be dispatched in 36 hours to the country in effect and provide support to the member state in need. In terms of violent conflicts between member states, that becomes a much more difficult issue. Because, for instance, when terrorist attacks, we already have an international law saying that all member states of the UN will help against any attack on innocent citizens and civilians against non-state actors. But when it comes to a fight between two member states of the UN, then we have to wait for a Security Council’s resolution. The UN does not have any legal authority to intervene in any conflicts unless directed by the Security Council. That is exactly what happened in Syria when chemical weapons were used and some of them were attributed to the government of Syria. The UN was ready; we had a team ready to provide investigation, support, and also to go in and set up tents and medical whatever supports that they needed. All we needed was for Security Council to say “yes.” But the

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US and the Russian government had different views of who was responsible, and they vetoed each other's resolution, so there was no resolution, and so we couldn't do anything. So that kind of things happen, and specifically on the Northeast Asia issue. The UN command is in charge of keeping the peace between North and South Korea. Technically, the commander of the UN forces in Korea is the US forces, so that's how the system is built until today. But when it comes to all-out war, there is no contingency planned for them. There is nothing the UN can do, again, unless there is a Security Council resolution, like in 1950. When there was a Korean war, there was a Security Council resolution that allowed the UN to not draft but accept voluntary troop and material contribution, form the UN forces, and go help South Korea. Because Russia abstained, there was no veto and it passed, and China was represented by Taiwan at that time. Therefore, the resolution passed; it was adopted, and we were able to form that UN forces, but I highly doubt if that will happen today. - References      

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Dissecting international concerns about Iran's missiles. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.sipri.org/commentary/topicalbackgrounder/2018/dissecting-international-concerns-about-irans-missiles Fact Sheets & Briefs. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/syriaprofile India. (2018, February 12). Retrieved from http://fissilematerials.org/countries/india.html Iraq. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nti.org/learn/countries/iraq/ Iraq Joins the Chemical Weapons Convention. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.opcw.org/media-centre/news/2009/01/iraqjoins-chemical-weapons-convention President Donald J. Trump is Ending United States Participation in an Unacceptable Iran Deal. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-ending-united-states-participation-unacceptableiran-deal/ Sang-hun, C. (2019, July 30). North Korea Fires Short-Range Missiles, Its 2nd Test in Less Than a Week. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/world/asia/north-korea-projectiles.html The Economist. (2019, 11). Donald Trump risks undoing decades of nuclear arms control. Retrieved from https://www.economist.com/united-states/2019/07/11/donald-trump-risks-undoing-decades-of-nuclear-arms-control UNODA – United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.un.org/disarmament/

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- Final Presentation Slides -

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The 14th UN Headquarters Training Program Photo Gallery

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UN HEADQUARTERS BRIEFING SESSIONS ď Ž

United Nations Careers is a committee founded to ensure that every staff member understands their role and become better at what they do. United Nations Careers’ approach is strongly rooted interactive partnership between the staff member, the manager, and the Organization. To achieve the goal, organization provides opportunities diverse range of programs, which includes career planning, development workshops, senior career counselors / mentoring, and many more. Also, United Nations Careers seeks people with selfless, honest, creative, professional, and diverse characteristics.

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SPECIAL SESSION: THE PERMANENT MISSIONS

Korea and the United Nations Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations CHULL-JOO PARK Deputy Permanent Representative

overseas.mofa.go.kr/unko/index.do

Permanent Mission of Republic of Korea to the United Nations was first founded as an Observer Mission in November 1951. In September 1991, Korea became a member of UN and the Mission became a full-fledged Permanent Mission to the United Nations. It is currently headed by Ambassador Cho Tae-yul. The main goal is to make peaceful international society through human rights, international law, and nonproliferation treaties. ROK has made significant contributions to the work of UN, especially in the field of peacekeeping operations, and human rights. In particular, ROK’s efforts during Millennium Summit of the UN has been recognized by UN. Another important role is seeking peace and security in Korean peninsula to ensure stability and prosperity of the region.

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Switzerland and the United Nations Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations DOMINIQUE FAVRE Deputy Permanent Representative www.un.emb-japan.go.jp/

The Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York promotes Switzerland’s interests at the UN Headquarters, in line with the country’s foreign policy goals. It participates in the work of the UN’s principal organs as well as in the different UN Funds and Development Programmes.

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On the last day of the training, the participants received a Certificate of Competition for the 14th Youth Training Program at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA.

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II. Ivy League Campus Tour & Meeting with Current Students

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Hyejeon Ko, Gyeonggi Academy of Foreign Languages Yale University At first, I though Yale University as a footage of students linked in a society and having their own unique ambitions, goals, and purpose for academic studies. However, after my visit to Yale University, my expectation of Yale surged even higher than before. Yale was more than an academic faculty filled with marvelous professors, but a large community with students intercepted in different ways. First, I was impressed with the unique structure of the University. The doors of each building facing towards the center of Green seemed very creative. Student unification was made not only through student committees or extracurricular activities, but through a structural change. I could imagine the scene of students meeting altogether and sharing morning greetings. Another point that outstood the special conviction of Yale was shown through the Sterling Memorial Library. This library was designed and established by James Gamble Rogers, and he had a concrete idea for the library. He believed the school needed a cathedral-like building by means of a chapel. As a result, he created the school library in the shape of a church and even poured acid on the roof to make it look even older. Looking from the outside made me think the building was one of the oldest buildings in Yale, but I soon figured out its constructed was completed in 1930. Yale has an outstanding style of academic courses that are strictly differentiated to other schools. Yale students substantially take double major courses, and even majors that are irrelevant. This is possible because of the school system that allows students to interfere with a variety of subjects. After tasting these diverse types of majors, students then choose their official major. However, this may also be changed, and the procedure is also simple. Pursuing students to face different types of classes was the point that anticipated me the most. Since I have an ambiguous direction of major, I suspected this would be a practical opportunity to find my dreams and pull out my potentials. My interests are focal to both science and world economic

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crisis, and it is challenging to find an interception in between. However, after acknowledging the academic system of Yale, I thought students having the similar concerns could facilitate their dreams. Yale has 12 different residential colleges, and it is also a distinctive feature. Each has a dining hall, library, recreational facilities, a Master's House in the residential colleges. Furthermore, faculties such as the Dean are promptly mobilized to help out students find their potentials and future prospects. Yale always fosters students to make their own triumph and they facilitate it through sufficient financial support. Amongst all the exceptional parts of Yale, what exclusively approached to me was the atmosphere of the school virtually made by the students. I’ve never seen a school that made an innovative idea regarding ‘community.’ The endemic color and atmosphere of Yale made me want to enshrine the memories of my visit. Although I could only experience the community indirectly and conceptually, I could interpret that the school bonds everyone together. I once heard, “A school’s protagonist is nothing but the students.” Truly, Yale approached as a University with significant facilities to provoke happiness of students.

Columbia University “The people, the people, and again, the people.” When I went to Columbia University in the city of New York, our student guide emphasized that the ‘people’ were the most decisive point of Columbia University. I’ve seen in the school advertisement videos that ‘people’ of Columbia University outcompete other universities, but I was curious about what that made Columbia’s people so significant. Columbia University has a variety of residential facilities for students. Not only residential buildings, but also academic support and facilities are highly advanced. Especially, Columbia’s butler library captured my eye. Our student guide explained about the place more specifically, and I got to know that the library was not just a place for academic studies, but a building that represented the core course of Columbia. Several philosopher’s names are imprinted on the lower roof of the library. This means, students of Columbia have to read books for each philosopher which is mandatory for everyone. By acknowledging this fact, I was impressed of Columbia’s contribution for students to provide as much as valuable chances of reading.

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Furthermore, the buildings distinguished by majors were also compelling to look at. With a meticulous view, I felt that the buildings each had its own endemic color and atmosphere they gushed out. For example, computer science buildings and offices were mostly angulated with modern colors. Whereas liberal arts and buildings regarding international, global relationships had antique shapes and sophisticated colors. However, these buildings weren’t existing in two different fields, but integrated together to create the blue view of Columbia University. It was a beautiful panorama. Lastly, what I liked mostly about my visit to Columbia was the presentation time with our student guide. As a student who advocates pursing diverse dreams, my visit to Columbia and listening to a presentation from our student guide was a precious opportunity. She elaborated her presentation based on her personal story and linked it with Columbia University, and how the intersection changed her whole personality, ambition, and dedication. First, and foremost, Columbia University has diverse students from literally all around the world. Starting from France, Georgia, Germany, and even countries she never heard of. The opportunity to face international students broadened her minds, and allowed her to see the world in different perspectives. By listening to the stories of different people, and accepting each and every one’s unique conviction made her to love people, and as a result of loving people, she found a new ambition of double majoring data science and anthropology. Through her story, I could feel the atmosphere of Columbia with students sharing cultures, thoughts, new perspectives, innovative mind sets, and more. Moreover, the lesson I learned through the visit to Columbia University was to “If you find your true dreams and follow your heart you will make a decision regrettable, and feel love what you are doing.” Indeed, I suffered with countless concerns regarding my interests and what I truly want to do for the next decades. After verbally recognizing the lesson, I turned more determined to choose my major and not to halt my ambition because of financial concerns or unnecessary reasons. Visiting Columbia University and having a meaningful time was a pivotal memory. Not only academic advice, but I learned about human relationship, ‘life’ in general, and most of all, knowing ‘myself.’ It was an unforgettable memory, and a Columbia University representative student giving this opportunity made me feel admiration for Columbia University in the city of New York.

Gyu Ri Kim, Pusan Foreign Language High School Yale University In Yale University, the first thing we did once we got there was getting a tour from Cameron, a student in Yale majoring in chemistry. First of all, we got a brief explanation of Yale’s history and origin. After that, we got a tour around the campus. Looking at the whole campus had a very vintage look and in fact, the dining room in “Harry Potter” was filmed in Yale. There was also a statue of a man. We also got to look around Yale’s library. It is said that the library was built by an architect who thought that an architect must build a cathedral in their life or else they cannot call themselves an architect. Because of that, the library looked almost identical to a church. The library and the buildings around it looked at least a few hundred years old but to everybody surprises, the buildings and the library was built in the 1930s making it barely 90 years old. The truth behind those buildings was that the architect actually poured acid on the roofs to make the buildings look old. Another library we saw was the Library of Rare and Historic Books. Unfortunately, we were there too early and weren’t able to see inside of the library. However, I did search up the library on the internet and it was the most beautiful library I’ve ever seen. This motivated me into setting my goal as getting into Yale University. After the campus tour we had a Q&A session with a Korean Yale chemistry student. The question I could relate to the most was what motivated him to be hardworking in his high school years. His personal reason was that if he went into a good university which he did, then he could learn anything he was passionate about and still be able to get

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a well-paying job no matter what. Personally, I’ve been running out of motivation to be hardworking as well. But his example really motivated me to devote myself into my studies for that exact reason.

Columbia University In Columbia in the City of New York, we heard an impressive, touching and inspirational presentation and speech from a data science and anthropology rising sophomore student, Kwon Jiyeon. Thanks to her, for the first time, I actually looked back and thought about what I wanted to do with my life legitimately. The reason she was so inspirational to me was because she seemed to be passionate towards almost every aspect of life. She was also devoted to finding her real self in life which was finding what truly made her happy. Looking at her, I realized I’ve been that person who hasn’t found herself and not realizing it whether it was what she wanted to be or what makes her happy. Until now, I’ve been telling myself that I know myself completely and know what kind of future would make me happy. Today’s speech from Jiyeon was a complete game changer for what I wanted to do in the future and what I’m going to do to make that future. She talked about how the people in her life has shaped her into who she is right now. She told us how she rejected an internship offer in the fastest growing AI lab in the US, and how in her 2nd year of university she realized that data science may bring her a good future, but she wanted to try something new and applied to major in anthropology as well. Listening to her life journey and many other life journeys that she heard, I realized that I was rushing through my life without giving myself a chance to think about if what I’m doing is truly for my happiness for my present and future. This also made me realize that the many things I gave up learning about due to thinking it was useless for my “perfect” future or thinking it was “too late” may have the answer to what I am passionate about and truly brings me happiness. She talked about a 50 year old retired lawyer dreaming to become an actress who left her family to pursue her dreams and later becoming a semi-successful Hollywood actress. This specific story made me realize that thinking something I wanted to do was “too late” was ridiculous. The lecture I heard from this passionate, inspirational student today was totally a turning point in my life. Now, I decided to thrive for my happiness and my real dreams thanks to this lecture.

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Dany Kim, Daejeon Foreign Language High School Princeton University The unrelenting amount of mentions to Yale University and how prestigious and grand it is actually had me more interested in another colonial college: Princeton University. Located in New Jersey, the campus has a sense of quaintness to it—with its 18th century architecture and grass fields, reminding me of other contemporary locations, places like Old Quebec. I was taken aback by the American history stored in the campus’ buildings—we held a Q&A session in the same lecture hall that Einstein once taught in, and examined a building that hosts model UN and debate events today, but was home to Thomas Jefferson’s debate aspirations back in the day. We were also informed about an old legend that says if you enter Princeton University through the main gate you’ll probably never see the day of your graduation. Students can be seen entering through the side gates, while tourists and visitors saunter through the main gate without a thought. Ignorance really is bliss sometimes. Princeton also has an affinity for having beautiful buildings that people just can’t get enough of. People make reservations four years in advance for their chance to hold their wedding at the Princeton chapel, and tourists can be seen forming in groups to take pictures in front of buildings with all sorts of ornate decorations and clockwork. Even the dormitories were a sight to behold. Our tour guide, who was a very genial person by the way, mentioned that movies were shot at the same spot students sleep in those same dormitories. Princeton emitted an aura of history that seemed to beckon you forward, inviting you to study and live in the same grounds that the passionate people of history before you achieved their greatest accomplishments.

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Min Seong Kim, North London Collegiate School Jeju Yale University Visiting the campus of Yale University and having a tour and information session with Yale students, this thought instantly sparked in my mind, “I want to be a part of this community�. As soon as I enter several courtyards, I recognized that students from various background gather around and they all seemed to be enjoying their campus life. All doors of the building facing the courtyard, allowing students to hang out easily and communicate with each other. It appeared as a very welcoming and heartwarming scene where every single student is included in the community called Yale. Moreover, I found it fascinating that they all are very passionate in their own areas with some dancing, lying down on the ground and reading a book, having an intellectual conversation with their colleagues. Even though they all came from different background, with some of different ethnicity, it was so wonderful to see students all connected as a big community. Again, instantly, I wanted to throw myself in that wonderful community and enrich myself with conversations with those people who are unique in their own ways, which is, in my perspective, the ideal environment that universities can provide. Not only people and the community, but I was also again fascinated by the groundbreaking appearance of Yale facilities. Starting off with Sterling Memorial Library and Bass Library, the largest of all Yale libraries, I again instantly fell in love with this cathedral-like library with approximately 4 million volumes on 16 floors of book stacks. As a student planning to study Political Science, I think there is nothing more important than reading various materials from books to literary reviews, as there is no fixed answer in this complex and giant area of study. Another fascinating library, but in a different way, was Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. While Sterling Library seemed to be an ancient cathedral, Beinecke Library is definitely unique in its own way with its modern and geometric exterior. Unfortunately, I could only watch the exterior as it was not its

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working hour, giving a reason for me to come back to get accepted and come back to this campus in the future. Furthermore, the residential college system of Yale definitely appeared to be attractive. The housing system at my school allowed me to adapt to a new environment more easily with family-like friends around me every time. In addition, as a performing arts captain of Sarah House, the house of the phoenix, I have beautiful memories of dedicating all my time to win competitions including House Drama, House Singing and House Glee, and, of course, sharing the joy with fellow house constituents. I would love to continue this wonderful experience at Yale University. It was so hilarious to hear that every student at Yale thinks their house is the best, which is exactly the same as students in our school.

Last but not least, academic support and success of Yale University are definitely one of the reasons why I am attracted to this college. During the information session, I figured that Yale University gives a fair amount of freedom to students from changing their majors to double majoring. Even though my strong passion is politics, as a student with multiple interests, I would love to consider double majoring, expanding the horizon for me. In addition, as a student with an interest in political science, Yale is definitely one of the best options that I have. The University has faculty with various professionalisms and a big diversity of courses, which opens many doors and provide opportunities for students to explore this giant realm of study. As a student of interests in various parts of political science from egalitarianism to political methodology, Yale appears to be one of the best universities. Moreover, it is very important for me that the university is focusing more on undergraduates than graduates. I found that Yale University is eager to give as much help as possible to its students. Yale University seems to give all the support for students to flourish intellectually. From this experience, I made a firm decision that I will apply to Yale University and will do my best to get accepted and follow my passion.

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Columbia University “The People”, it is the word that I have heard more than a hundred time during the information session given by a Columbia student. The student who gave the tour and information session was more than in love with “the People” of Columbia University, which sparked my curiosity. What is so special about the People at Columbia University? Why is it so important that the speaker wanted to use this far more than repetitively? It is diversity. Diversity of people who are passionate in their own areas seems to be the point that she wanted to elaborate. As one of the most diverse universities in America, Columbia University is enriched with students from various background, creating a global village on the campus. I found this very attractive as it matches with my ideal university where I can have intellectual conversations with individually unique people. I am really looking forward to meeting “the People” and finding out how special they are with my own eyes. Located in the core of New York City, Columbia University provides students with a lot of opportunities where they can throw themselves to real-life studies including internship offers from amazing places. I personally enjoyed participating internships at places like the Embassy of Mexico and Korean American Civic Empowerment during my high school years, and I would love to continue this as I definitely recognize the fact that real-life opportunities are even linked to a future career. Columbia University surrounded by various firms, start-ups and political groups is definitely an appeal to me. Academics is also groundbreaking in Columbia University. In particular, I am more than willing to expand my academic horizon by studying the core curriculum. As an IB Diploma student, core curriculum including Theory of Knowledge did allow critical thinking and I do recognize the importance of core curriculum to academic success, or even success in life. Moreover, as a student with an interest in political science, Columbia University is definitely one of the best options that I have. The University has faculty with various professionalisms and a big diversity of courses, which opens many doors and provide opportunities for students to explore this giant realm of study. As a student of interests in various parts of political science from egalitarianism to political methodology, Columbia University appears to be one of the best universities. Last but not least, I was stunned by mind-blowing buildings of Columbia. At the centre of the campus, Butler Library was standing like a guardian of the University, with names of philosophers including Hobbes and Plato, which I thought was to be a giant law court. In addition, I found it fascinating that each building has its own characteristic. Buildings for the science department seemed to be very modern and creative while those for humanities department seemed to be very classic and calm. If I get a chance to go to this University, my life would definitely be cherished by looking at wonderful buildings every day. From this experience, I made a firm decision that I will apply to Columbia University and will do my best to get accepted and follow my passion.

Minjin Kim, Jeonbuk Foreign Language High School Yale University Among our long journey, visiting Yale University was our very first destination. When we arrived in Yale, I was so surprised of its scale. Unlike students in famous universities or high schools in Korea, students in here looked so free, calm, and they seemed to enjoy their lives. By listening to the native and Korean student who were currently going to school, I have learned a lot of special advantages and programs that are only in Yale, for example like financial aid. For me, it was very interesting that every student who just entered this school assigned randomly among 14 residential colleges. In this grateful experience, I sensed that just because you are smart, that doesn’t mean you can go to an influential school and live better life. Having

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your own strong vision and passion makes you the better person than you were, and be the prestigious person as the school.

Columbia University To be really honest, during all Ivy League visit programs, I would say Columbia University was definitely the best for me. The weather was great cause we visited there in early morning, (well, the sun was really hot though) buildings were so beautiful, but above all these, the presenter was such an amazing person. Her name was Kwon-Ji Yeon, and she was rising junior and her majors were data science and anthropology. At first, her introduction about Columbia was not so different with the information that I’ve already heard in Yale and Princeton. However, when she started her own presentation, I can totally feel that she is such an amazing human being, and such a mature person that I can look up too. The difference from presenters in Yale and Princeton was that she was keep emphasizing the importance of individual’s opportunity and how precious the people near the person who I am are. She encouraged me and other students so much by telling her own passionate story and that made me to believe in myself and all the possibilities that I have. At first, I thought she said things like that because she was already a IVY league student, but more I hear her stories and learn the person who she is, now I know a little bit of “excited to exist” – her motto.

Joosung Kim, Cornerstone Collegiate Academy of Seoul Yale University I was fortunate enough to go on a tour of the University of Yale, one of the oldest Ivy schools that dates back to the 18th century. I was awestruck by how authentic and massive the whole school facility was: I felt like I was in a suburban city of the ancient ruins of European infrastructures, with many of its buildings old, stained, and authentic. The old 14th-century European-style architecture blended splendidly with nature,

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along with the thick grass and the old, thick trees. Even better, I felt like I was in a fantasy novel, especially the school ground of Hogwarts, a fictional school in the book Harry Potter. The book portrays the school in a manner and fashion similar to that of Yale University. It is safe to say that the author of Harry Potter must have got the idea of the campus from Yale. Moreover, on the similarities of Yale and Hogwarts, Yale’s Greek life felt much like the houses of Hogwarts. In Hogwarts, there are four houses, where students are designated via the Sorting Hat. At Yale, on the other hand, there is a total of fourteen different houses. Each house has members with different ethnicities, languages, backgrounds, and ethnics that are designated by random distribution, not by the Sorting Hat. These differences create harmony upon the students who later feel more like home in their dormitories. This is proved by the statistics of the percentage of students who stay after their two years of mandatory stay in their dorms: in their third and fourth years, 70% and 60% of students stay in their dorms, which is a huge number compared to other universities. This amazed me and became one of the reasons I was eager to go to this school. Another aspect of this school is the quality and quantity of the vast information held in their libraries. One of the school’s Cathedral-like libraries has nearly 8 million books, and the whole school has nearly 15 million copies.

These are not just ordinary books, for some are very rare to find elsewhere, such as the first Gutenberg bible, the books Isaac Newton wrote, documents published under the name of Galileo, and so on. One way Yale would help its students is by giving out financial aid to students in need of assistance and provide essential resources for research purposes. As a student in need of these generous offers, I was happy to get rid of one hardship I felt when I was thinking of which school I should attend. If I have a grateful opportunity to attend this university during my college years, I am confident that I will have my time well spent at Yale University.

Princeton University After the Yale University tour, I was also able to attend another tour at Princeton. Princeton’s campus size was smaller than Yale’s but still, the campus was enormous. There were fewer books, fewer dorms, and less space, but the campus itself was big enough, just smaller than the giant Yale. Before we went on the tour

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however, we were lucky to have a guest, a student currently attending Princeton, who would answer our questions. He was a Korean majoring in molecular biology. One aspect of Princeton compared to Yale was that the Greek life there wasn’t as big of a deal as compared to Yale’s. Although they exist, the festivals themselves are not funded by the school itself but rather a private club festival amongst members. He told us that the only major festival he knew was a fraternity meal party where students would gather around to eat food with each other. Despite this new information, his next given information was more shocking: Princeton does not offer a dual major program. Most schools approve duel majors, even encouraging them to do so. In the case with Yale, the students just need to accept a few terms on the web to receive recognition to major both subjects. To be more precise, they do have the programs available, but it is impossible to physically endeavor the cumbersome programs of each major. Rather, the school provides a “minor” duel major program via ‘certificates’. Students can take different classes from their majors, but they must have a good explanation for a correlation between their minor subject and their major. For example, he says that his peer would major architecture and attempted to get a certificate for dancing. His peer somehow was able to link his major with dancing. As a student who was interested in computer science and music, I wished to take a duel major, but due to Princeton’s own rules, I am unable to pass through. However, I, like the student, must have a good explanation for his certificate’s close relations with the major. That is my load to overcome, and I will attempt to pass it through.

Columbia University I was amazed by the campus of Columbia. Its sheer size, the liveliness of the students, and the nature all combined gave out a ray of unity and harmony I have never seen. The classrooms were enormous, and constructed in a way every student has a chance to become engaged with the professor’s lecture. Even the college student whom gave us a tour guide remarked the system and structure of Columbia’s education system. It was fit for all students to have equal opportunities with an equal amount of time. One thing that still lingers in my mind is how well the school itself is designed: the location and relative distances from each department of education. It was easy to navigate through the whole school, even though the campus was unimaginably wide. Unlike other Ivy League schools, Columbia had found ways to aid students in making the school feel like home: by letting them walk through the campus without any obstacles to block their ways. Another aspect of Columbia was the vast majority of people being so diverse and eager to learn more. The tour guide there was very enthusiastic about her life in and out of the campus, how every part of one’s life shouldn’t be about someone else, but you. She emphasized the importance of self-guidance and yearning to search for one’s interests, not chasing after great things with honorable prestige and high-income payment. She used to major in data science, but noticed that her current path at that time wasn’t the right way. Even after being offered an intern in one of the fastest growing start-up companies, she left behind her legacy and started studying anthropology due to her love for humanity. I was amazed and even shocked by her decision: after all, getting intern offers and majoring data sciences is still my dream to accomplish, but I got what she was trying to explain. She wanted us to excel in our own ways, not just going beyond the standards of others.

Ju Won Kim, Korean School of Weihai Yale University UN Training program 的第二日上午,我探访了 Yale 大学。虽然对海外大学不怎么感兴趣,但到了 Yale 后,我觉得那里太棒了。Cameron ruth 给我们进行了 Campus tour。哈利波特的宿舍据说是从 Yale 大学得到灵感的。他介绍建筑物的意义和学校的历史时,我能感到了他对自己的学校有自豪

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感。中午举行了座谈会,由 yale 大学 3 年级的韩国学生主持。在自由问答时间,有一个学生问:“对 所有人来说,学习是一件困难的事。每当想放弃的时候,让你重新努力的动机是什么呢?”他回答道: “因为考上好的大学能提高职业稳定性,我努力学习了。现在的我,在这所学校里非常自由,很放 松。所以我不后悔高中时由于没有确定未来的职业而学习过程中感到的苦恼和焦躁。”听着他的回 答, 觉得他和我高一时的样子很像。我希望两年后的我, 也像这位学生一样自由幸福。我一定要在 我能自豪地大学里,和那些博学多识的人一起成长。 感谢爸爸妈妈送我美国探访 Yale 大学,这不同寻常的经验成了我做上述决心的动机。

Today is the second day of the UN training program promoted by the Future Hope Organization, I went on a tour of Yale University. I wasn't very interested in foreign universities, but it was really cool when I went there. Harry Potter's dormitory design is said to have been inspired by Yale University. When Cameron Ruth, who gave us a Campus tour, explained the meaning of the buildings and the history of the school, I felt he had pride in his school. And we also had a meeting at lunch, a Korean student attending the third grade of Yale University hosted us. One student asked him: “You must have had a hard time studying. What are the motives that kept you from giving up? “I studied hard because if I go to a good university, my professional stability will increase. Because I am very free now that I came to this school, so I didn't regret the time I was a high school student that couldn't decide my future job.” He answered the question. Listening to his answers, I thought it was like me a lot when I was in my first year of high school. I was thinking that I would like to be free and happy after 2 years like him. The Yale University tour was a unique experience that motivated me to pledge that I should grow up with wonderful people in a university where I can take pride in my efforts.

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Jun Hyun Kim, Pomfret School Columbia University One of my dreams of being a college student, while cliché, has always been of going to school in a big city. The idea of riding the metro to go to school and being surrounded by a wide and diverse group of people who each are deeply passionate in their respective fields have always had a place in my heart. Thus, it was natural for me to be attentive of Columbia University, which is located in New York City. When I first arrived at the campus of Columbia University, I was absolutely taken away by the sheer size of the campus alone. Located in the upper part of Manhattan, I was expecting the campus to be minute as Manhattan is notorious to be one of the most expensive cities in the world when it comes to real estate. However, what I found was the exact opposite, with the campus of Columbia University being bigger and explicitly open to students and faculty of the University as a place for informal social gatherings and casual events.

One noteworthy sight that further elevated my interest for Columbia was the free and natural nature of the students at Columbia. While many seemed to type away in the ‘Butler’ library, it could be observable that others had found their own spot on campus to productively focus on assignments. One notable observation was a group of students sitting on the lawn of the campus and debating about a specific issue (that seemed to be one of the assignments given). The idea that being a student at Columbia University meant that one could indulge into a field of academia that interests himself or herself was an enlightening experience to say the least. With this being said, one issue came to my mind. As attending Columbia University would mean staying apart from my family in the bustling city of New York, wouldn’t I become homesick? However, I soon came to realize that this wasn’t going to be a critical issue. With many students from South Korea already attending Columbia University and nearby schools such as New York University and Parsons School of Design, the South Korean community had already been strongly established both inside and out of Columbia. When feeling homesick, I could always contact the South Korean community and various related

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associations to bring a sense of hospitality back into my life. Already having established a reputation as an ‘ivy league’ school, the academics of Columbia was unquestionable, evidently being bolstered by the statistics of graduates and the respectable alumni. Thus, being located in New York City, having an open and free atmosphere, and fostering a robust Korean community was what ultimately inspired me of Columbia University.

Jisung Nam, Sehwa High School Yale University “It was a time that I was able to step toward becoming a global leader.” I have thought about Ivy League schools which are well known as producing global leaders. Also, I thought about the Ivy League as an extremely competitive and thinking about its future. However, after I met the student, who is a student at Yale University, the image that I thought about has completely changed. During the tour, I realized that students are so nice and cooperative. Yale University was the first schedule and I was looking forward to visiting there. The school was so huge that no one was recognizing that we were at the University. Tour was started with Cameron Luther, who was our guide as well as Yale student. The buildings were so wonderful and amazing that I felt like I was inside of Harry Potter. Yale University was the motive of Harry Potter. He told us that the dormitory was divided into 14 groups. Briefly, Yale was the best University that has the best architectures that I have ever seen. After the tour, we had a conference with a Korean student, who was doing a major at Yale University. He explained to us the way to enter and how to prepare for the exams. One of the interesting stories of Yale is competition against Harvard. Not only students at Yale and Harvard have lots of passion for studying but also highly talented. However, Yale students keep in mind that the relationship between them is also important. Likewise, I like Yale rather than other abroad Universities such as Oxbridge, which means

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Oxford and Cambridge. Tour to Yale made me focus on my current study, and also gave me a will of my future career.

Columbia University “If I had to choose one of the Universities that we traveled, I would choose Columbia University” Today, we went to Columbia University and had a conference. One of the most interesting things about Columbia University is that it is located in the center of New York City. This helps the student to access various experiences which is one of the most important things that society requires. Going to Columbia was the second day of the UN training program. After passing the Hudson River we arrived at the university where there was a beautiful campus. Most of all, the main library reminds me of the Parthenon. Being fascinated, we walked along with the campus lead by Ji Yeon Kwon, who is studying data science and Anthropology at Columbia University. During the conference, I knew that the only place that could support my effort is Columbia University. There are several reasons that I think it is perfect for me is the core curriculum that students should apply for their lecture. Also, financial aid for international schools is quite equal. Since my interest field is Science and Engineering, I believe that Columbia’s research and faculty are perfect for me. What she emphasized are the people. Fortunately, I like talking with people and interact with others. Now I need to consider how to spend my high school years to enter and achieve my dream.

Yae Lynn Moon, United World College of South East Asia Yale University During my visit to Yale, I learned that Yale’s values and missions have been deeply rooted towards the students. The students take deep pride in being part of Yale’s community which was reflected from their words and their actions. This gave me the impression that Yale as a close and tight-knit community. This has surprised me greatly because my initial opinion towards an Ivy League University, in general, was that there would be lots of biased opinions around the students.

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I was aware that Yale University is a lively and exciting school that has a selection of bright and promising students. I learned that Yale’s education helps students develop many skills which encourages them to think independently and drive their own learning. This has inspired me to become a better student. Founded on 1701, the architecture of the university showed me that the university has also put an effort to show its rich history from the campus buildings. This visit showed me why Yale is considered the best university in the world. Each student takes pride in the school’s history which has manifested into a positive mindset proving why Yale is one of the top universities in the world

Columbia University Among the universities I visited, I enjoyed touring Columbia University the most. Seeing buildings with names of renowned philosophers such as Socrates and Plato gave me great pride in being a literature student. Hearing that Colombia has the largest diversity rates among Ivy League Collage made me proud of my nationality. This visit to Columbia University encouraged me to embrace many different sides of myself. I learned that the students there are driven to learn. What I was most inspired the most was the student’s attitude towards her learning. During her university education, she is driven to not just learn social and academic characteristics, but to find herself within her education. This has driven her to chase after her passions in efforts to broaden herself as not just as a student but as an individual. This has inspired me greatly and I hope that when I’m in university I am just as driven and ambitious as her. She emphasized the fact that a university is a place where we should find ourselves doing the things we love and we are passionate about. Although I’m not sure what my passions are, I will take the things she said to heart. During my last two years in high school, I will question myself again and again in order to find the things I love. During the process of questioning myself, I hope to be able to find myself as a person. I learned that University is more than just another school but it’s a place where I can enhance my limitations and follow my passions. This has provoked me to challenge myself to succeed myself as much I have been able to attain what I hope to be worldly and open-minded perspective.

Hyejun Mun, Brent International School Manila Yale University On August 3, I touched the toe of a statue representing President Theodore Dwight Woolsey. This may sound quite random to those who don’t know the tale behind this statue. Theodore Dwight Woolsey is the 10th president of Yale University. It is a famous belief among Yale students that touching his toes brings good luck. Whether it is true or not, I gently brushed his well-polished toes, praying for my upcoming IB life. Aside from this interesting legend, there was another aspect of Yale University that caught my attention: the architecture. I could really see that the buildings were carefully designed for the students. When we entered a plaza, we could observe that all the doors of the dormitories were facing inside. This was a design carefully planned by the President Theodore Dwight Woolsey. He intended for students to come out of their dorms and spend more time with each other. I could feel the care and love that the president had for the school and the students. All the buildings were designed for the best comfort and pleasure of the students. After the plaza and the dormitories, we were going to visit the library. However, it was unfortunately closed. I was so disappointed for I had a special love for books. I could only imagine the great quality and number of books inside that closed library. Even the building of the library itself was beautiful.

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Another factor of Yale that surprised me was the love and pride of the students towards their school. While explaining about Yale, I could feel the love and pride burning inside the student guide’s eyes. It never occurred to me that a student could love their school that much. My friends and I were always busy complaining about my school. Our student guide said that he has never met a Yale student who disliked or complained about the school. I could only imagine how nice it will be to study in such a great environment. Also, our student guide told us that it is easy to make an after-school club in Yale, for they only need 6 members to start a club. If I ever get to enter Yale, I want to try to make an afterschool activity wherein we visit countries to provide service to the needed. Before visiting Yale, I have never felt for an urge to attend a school in America. However, Yale broadened my view. I gained interest in finding or researching about other American colleges. Now, I have a whole new range of new possibilities.

Columbia University “Did you apply to any Korean Colleges?” I asked the student guide of Columbia College in the city of New York. This question shows my closed perspective towards colleges. I trapped myself inside a frame called ‘Korean College’. Today, I met someone who entirely broke my frame and dragged me out to a whole new world, our student guide from Columbia University, Ji yeon. Ji yeon was a type of person I have never met in my life. She seemed so enthusiastic and passionate about everything in her life, her studies, relationships, and much more aspects. She even told us that she changed her major in Columbia for 12 times. For example, she said she transferred from Biology to Computer Science to Data Science. In this fact alone, I could see that she has a handful of things that she wants to do. I admire her for her countless possibilities, for I have never had a chance to seek for other careers. I have always dreamt of working for some sort of international organizations, but I never thought of what exact organization I want to enter. I realized that I had this vague dream that was lacking passion, and her personal experience really woke me up. She said that she turned down a great internship opportunity for the summer and went on a trip to 11 countries and interviewed 150 people. I was first shocked by the fact that she turned down an internship from the most famous AI firm in New York, and I was impressed by the courage she had to travel 11 countries alone. Then I asked myself, “Will I be able to make the same decision as her?” I was able to reflect myself on where I place importance, passion or reality. Until now, I haven’t figured out the answer. I wish I could figure out the right choice for me while going through new experiences and meeting new people. In this way, this UN training program is a great opportunity for me to figure out my passion by meeting new people and having a great learning experience. To talk about the Columbia University itself, I could understand why they would emphasize their name Columbia University in the City of New York. The University was located in the middle of New York. The location made Columbia really stand out between the other colleges we visited. I could really feel the busy and hard-working atmosphere of the city. Being located in the middle of the city allowed for students to enjoy the numerous intern opportunities from well-known US firms. Ji yeon told us that the students go to famous firms starting from Google to Wall Street. Also, the student guide told us how the Columbia University has a diverse population. They had students from all over the globe, even from a country that I have never heard in my life. I was sure that the diversity of Columbia will open my eyes to other cultures from all over the world. Moreover, diversity was a really significant factor for me for I have always been in a school wherein there were lots of Koreans, despite being an international school. If I get the opportunity, I want to confront new friends from different countries and compare our perspectives on numerous issues. I am curious how our backgrounds will shape the way we think and view the world. Like Ji yeon, I wish to meet a lot of new people from different backgrounds and open up a whole new world for me.

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Sarah Bak, Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies Yale University Although I have been to many universities, Yale was the first university to visit a university belonging to the Ivy League. As I got closer to campus of the Yale University, a beautiful scene from the New Haven Green greeted me. I was busy making memories with my group and friends. Though I could not easily conjure up images because I had not heard much about Yale University, I was captivated by the atmosphere of the trees and lawns on campus. Moving on to the Yale Visitor Center, the campus tour was started with a Yale college student. During the campus tour, many of the buildings built at Yale were left to be admired. Sterling Memorial Library, in particular, was one of the impressive buildings that gave the impression of an old cathedral. Contrary to its old image, the library was also surprised to hear that it was completed in 1930. I became interested in the curriculum and system as well as the architecture of Yale University. It is said that Yale providing a curriculum for students to be free and self-reliant. Many students at Yale have applied with interest in these curricula, as they are conducting curriculums that naturally lead to exploration in other areas, except in their own areas of interest. I also became interested in the differentiated curriculum of Yale University by listening to the explanation. In addition, Yale was making efforts to support its students’ activities. In particular, financial aid is doing well, so they can go to college without scarcity. This was inspiring in the school’s way of allowing students to focus on their careers. It wasn’t only support showing Yale was interested in students. Through the active participation of faculties, emphasis on interaction between students and professors, emphasis on undergraduate studies, and lectures at small group levels, the school could see that Yale was sincerely caring for students and systematically managing students. And I could learn about Yale’s 14 residential college systems. The system also recalled the dormitories of ‘Harry Potter’, which I read as a child. The college student said it will be randomly assigned after admission and will carry out the majority of activities accordingly. A unique system not found in other universities has given Yale more attention.

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Princeton University The first thing I encountered at Princeton University was the quietness of the campus. The peace on campus and old buildings of Princeton seemed to be in harmony. It felt totally different from the Yale University I had visited before. While Yale University was in a free atmosphere, Princeton’s curriculum or school atmosphere showed Princeton University to be conservative and elitist. During Princeton University’s campus tour, there were many impressive school buildings. A variety of buildings, including libraries, chapel, and cannon green, were established with dignity. Among them, it was the residential college that caught my eyes. Princeton University also has residential colleges and is said to be self-governing accordingly. Mathey College is famous for appearing in ‘A Beautiful Mind’, a film about the life of mathematician John Nash, famous for Nash equilibrium. I have never seen a movie before, but the trees that sprout around the dorms have made me interested in it. Rockefeller College is also famous for its beautiful exterior. It has a good appearance, yet, it is said that the facilities are old and inconvenient. These colleges and features of the university also gave us an insight into the overall atmosphere of Princeton University. I could get a lot from the campus tour like this, however the meeting with Princeton students also helped me a lot. The meeting took place in a lecture room where Einstein made a speech. I thought it was a good opportunity to learn not only about the current course, but also about Princeton University through question and answer. In addition, I was able to attend the meeting with interest thanks to the story of rumors about the school buildings.

Columbia University Although the weather was very hot, buildings of Columbia University welcomed me. In Particular, the Library of Columbia University was relatively large, creating an overwhelming atmosphere. By the time I was admiring the greatness of the buildings, a student from Columbia University came and began campus tour. The Columbia University buildings were built mainly in modern style. There was a very different atmosphere from Yale and Princeton. The most impressive thing about Columbia University was a meeting with Ji-yeon Kwon, a student at the university. She said that she changed her major about 12 times, and currently she double-majored in data science and anthropology. She said she is experiencing a lot of chances because she has various fields of interest and cannot choose one of them yet. Since I had various fields of interest and couldn’t choose one of them, I was also wandering. For me in such a situation, I was afraid of being unstable and risky to have various experiences. I asked this question to her, and she was glad to answer. It is certainly unstable and dangerous, but she said it is not right to be held at the speed of others and stressed out. Thanks to her, I was able to solve my problems and not wander. Previously, the university meetings were mostly about admissions, but this meeting at Columbia University was different because it was mainly about psychological anxiety and personal concerns. Thanks to her, I was able to free myself from the pressure and agony I had received.

Soohyun Park, Weihai Zhongshi Foreign School Yale University Today I went to Yale University. There were two students that introduce the Yale University. When we walked in to the campus. I could see many beautiful buildings and tall trees. Also, I could see that many events goings on and some of the students siting on the ground and communicate each other. He introduces many different buildings which is library, dormitory and Catholic Church. He was really kind and he answered each student questions. In those buildings, there were two buildings that I could not forget. The first building is dormitory. The outer wall of the dormitory building, it seems like an old house. Also, it looks like a house that came from different famous movies. In front of the dormitory, there have green grass and tall trees. In the tall tree, I saw a squirrel running around. It was cool and nice. He also talked about the

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different groups in the campus. When the students came, school put them in to different hoses. Therefore, they can make new friends and learn about the different cultures. The second building is Catholic Church. When I enter the Catholic Church, the first thing that I could see is windows. In the windows, there have historical charter and the Yale University. After the tour, me and team member went to have a meeting with the Korean students who studying in the Yale University. He is doing double majors which is chemistry, economics, politics and ethics. Also, he is the president of association of Korea residents. He introduces the Yale University. He also talked about his life and the requirement for apply the university. By talking to with the student that studying in Yale, it was a good experience for me to learn about the university that I am not familiar with. Moreover, I am going to be a Grade 12 in this year. It was hard to choose the university that I want to because there are many universities in the America and other countries. However, by this period, I have more knowledge on the Yale University also the double majors in Yale.

Columbia University Today I went to Colombia University. When I entered university, I could see big library with the name of different authors. I and my group member were waiting for the Korean student to introduce the university and also different tips. First, she introduced about the library. On the outer walls, there have some author names. The Colombia students required to read those author’s books. She showed different buildings on Colombia. We went to the biggest lecture room for learn more about the university. From that presentation, I knew many things about the university. Colombia University have two different parts. Which are liberal arts and science engineering part. Those building was really cool. Also, the presentation of the Korean student was nice. She talked about herself and other things that she did for applying Colombia University. She was really kind because she listened carefully to all the students who had questions. Also, she had lunch to keep talked with our groups. Personally, I really love the presentation that she gave. Also, I could feel her passion on her major and studies. She always smiles and she looked like happy in this school. The most part that I really like in Colombia University is park and the students in this university. Colombia University should put big effort to have a good grade but the students in this school seem happy with their school life. 134


Yeji Shin, Ewha Girl’s Foreign Language High School Yale University Being one of the best universities in the world, Yale University always seemed like a fantasy to me. A place where I could only vaguely imagine inside my head. I never thought I would get a chance to visit the place, so I had been extremely thrilled ever since I knew I was going. However, despite all these admiring ideas I had in mind, I did not know about detailed aspects of Yale University including what makes Yale distinctive from other universities. Then, after the tour and the session, the university turned out to be better than I had imagined. The most impressive part was the fourteen residential colleges. The residential college is randomly assigned after admission, and the students in each residential college arrange separate parties and banquets to associate with one another. This gives freshmen a sense of belonging and intimacy and thus, fosters to adapt in the community. That was one of the key features I liked because settling in a new environment is a common concern that most freshmen have, and this distinctive system will help overcome such a challenge. I was in complete awe while we were following the guide, looking around the college, because every building looked like some kind of attractions that you would find in the streets of Ancient Europe. The fun fact that they poured acid on newly built buildings to make it look old was also very intriguing. Structures that were most impressive to me were libraries, such as Sterling Memorial Library and Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Yale had a huge amount of resources available for students, such as original Shakespeare manuscripts and Early American Maps. I also got to learn that the Sterling Memorial Library had sixteen levels of book stacks containing more than 4 million volumes, and I was truly absorbed by the grandiosity of it. I imagined how it would feel like if I could study there, full of pride in my school. The rich resources surely seemed to cultivate students to expand their views and knowledge related to their major linking to a wider horizon. On top of that, as students from lots of different regions come to study at Yale, diversity is one of the merits that students can experience. By interacting with different people, they get to widen a global perspective and become an open-minded individual.

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Even though I did not have any intention to consider applying for foreign universities, visiting Ivy League colleges like Yale surely was extremely attractive that it even made me reconsider my future path. After this program, I am going to take some time to find out what my interests and talents are, and how I could link that with my future career. Visiting the universities and asking questions to the seniors have been such an inspiration and given me so much motivation to study. Now I have two goals: feeling certainty about my true interests and studying to the full extent.

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Chae Hyun Yoo, Southville International School Yale University Going back to Yale in seven months meant more than just touring around the extravagant school campuses. I wore my Yale University hoodie that I bought during my last visit, and it made me feel as if I had a special connection with the school by heart. This visit felt more on a personal level more than just an “Ivy League School tour” because college is starting to look like reality for me. Seeing the school and its people again after a few seasons gave me a different impression of the school. The buildings and the surrounding were warm, and the students were very friendly and welcoming. During my first Yale visit this January, I did not have the opportunity to have a proper tour of the school due to the tight schedule of YMUN and the GEP—which I was chosen as a participant. However, through the summer visit to Yale University, I was opened to a proper introduction of the school history and the different campuses. All the preposterous buildings and gothic-styled architecture just wowed my eyes. Moreover, the school tour was led by a current Yale student that I could not hesitate but to ask numerous questions which could further help me when I write my college applications. The tour guide gave me more motivation that I should work harder to get into Yale—my first Ivy League choice. I could only imagine how absurd and bizarre it would be as a student of Yale University. It is my absolute goal to be accepted into Yale University next autumn or fall. The atmosphere of Yale was incredible that I would want to be part of the family in the near future.

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Yeojun Yoon, Gangwon Foreign Language High School Columbia University Today, I went to Columbia University. Before the meeting with Jiyeon Kwon, who is second grader in Columbia University, I took a lot of pictures in front of the library with my friends. Our uniform and the sky made a perfect harmony, so all the pictures were so beautiful. Columbia University was the last university I’m visiting in this time, I just wished this tour ends as soon as possible and I wanted to rest. However, Columbia University and the meeting with Jiyeon inspired me than any other universities. Jiyeon is very respectful person. The most interesting and touching sentence she said was ‘I’m excited to exist.’ I was always concerned of being passionate and interested in many things. I don’t always define my dream to one word. My dream is to say my life was happy when the moment I die comes and when I retrospect my whole life. Also, I am passionate and interested in many things. I thought this was one of my biggest advantages. However, as I am senior and I have to apply for one major to go to university, I had to choose one for my major among my interests. This was really big concern for me. Jiyeon was also passionate for lots of things. So, I asked her how to choose one among my interests. Even though we met for the first time in forever, I could feel that she is speaking from her heart. What she said to me was a big help and her point of view to life was really touching. I’m going to admit in universities in Korea so I thought visiting Yale, Princeton and Columbia would be none of my business. However, visiting these universities and meeting with Korean seniors gave me lots of lessons. I don’t have any specific dream. Still I don’t know what I want to do most. Nothing has changed but I have changed. No matter where I study and no matter what I want to do, I will always do my best and never give up anything. I was very thankful for having this amazing experience through this UNTP program.

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Kyeongmook Lee, Korean Minjok Leadership Academy Yale University The UN professional training program began with the visit to Yale University. Completely mesmerized by the Corinthian pillars of gothic buildings, the trainees entered the campus. Program at Yale was composed in two major parts: campus tour and the Q&A session with a Korean undergraduate student. Besides all the explanations of the history and the buildings of Yale, the most interesting part of the campus tour for me came from the anecdotes and stories that the tour guide delivered. He was double majoring in economics and education, and his senior thesis was on silver industries and institutions. Since I am planning to double major in international relations and economics, I asked several questions about his research and major. Listening to his stories, it was not only surprising to see how he connected the two majors which are very different in nature, but also it was a valuable opportunity for me to see the real life example of a senior writing his thesis on two majors. Moreover, I could learn about the benefits of liberal arts curriculum for students. I realized that liberal arts curriculum in Yale allows its students to explore fields that are out of the scope of their major, while providing students with certain amount of freedom when it comes to choosing courses. The aspect of ‘diversity’ at the campus and the rich amount of resource that Yale holds also allowed me to realize other positive aspects of the university. The Q&A session was very informative and engaging in a different way. While the tour was mainly about the general facts about the university and the student life itself, the Q&A session was focused on general advices and tips for college application. It really helped me to set future goals and plans for my application this year. All in all, the program at Yale University was very engaging and interesting in that it not only provided me

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with a new vision to view the university itself, but also gave me the practical lessons that would be very helpful for my college application. Furthermore, meeting real Yale students and listening to their experiences was truly motivating and inspirational, allowing me to realize the importance of using my time most efficiently and effectively to achieve my goals.

Princeton University Same with other two universities that the trainees visited, Princeton also had a beautiful campus, filled with unique, antique buildings and gorgeous statues. Program at Princeton from the start was astonishing: the lecture room we first entered for a Q&A session with an undergraduate student was the same lecture room that Einstein once taught his students. Also, the Q&A session itself was very engaging and informative. One thing I personally felt very special about Princeton was the senior thesis that every students at Princeton must finish in order to graduate. Not only the fact that the university provides students a valuable chance to research on a specific topic that is deeply related to their major independently, but also the fact that the senior thesis itself allow students to interact with their professors in a more deep and engaging degree surprised me. This was the reason why Princeton is special and this was the aspect that really distinguished the institution from others. Moreover, the Q&A session allowed me two learn new aspects about the university. I was surprised at the fact that Princeton doesn’t not allow students to do double major, which really surprised me. However, after I listened to the presenter’s explanations, everything made sense for me. Since Princeton is famous for the vast amount of work and research that students have to go through compared to other institutions, double major is not only physically impossible, but also focusing on one specific major is more effective in really engaging with the field itself. Also, the presenter mentioned that students can choose minors or certificates, if they want to study more beyond the scope of their major. After the Q&A session, we went on a campus tour. We really enjoyed the beautiful buildings and the nature around campus. Moreover, during the tour, I was not only surprised by the sheer amount of resource that the university held, but also the accessibility that Princeton’s undergraduate students had on those resources. This again told us that Princeton is a undergraduate focused university, and it encourages students to utilize the resources to research and learn more deeply about the subject. All in all, the program at Princeton provided me insights and useful information about the university, and allowed me to learn the aspects about Princeton that I did not know or overlooked formerly.

Columbia University The first schedule for the day was visiting Columbia University. After a bus drive from New Jersey to upper Manhattan, the trainees arrived at Columbia. As we walked in, the two vast libraries, facing each other just rendered us amused with awe. Not only the sheer size of the buildings, but also the beautiful and exotic architecture were the things that made Columbia special. The campus was like an oasis in the center of the vast and busy metropolis. After a brief campus tour, we listened to a presentation from an undergraduate students who participated in the UN training program several years ago. Her presentation was not only very informative that it gave me a great sense of what Columbia University is special for and what kind of opportunities that the university provides to students, but also it was very inspirational as the presenter herself gave a sincere and helpful advice to us. One of the most interesting parts of the presentation was the aspect of core curriculum in Columbia. Columbia requires its students to take six core courses and satisfy four general requirements. And the core courses range from literature and contemporary issues to science and art. As a person who enjoys learning

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about diverse fields and expanding one’s horizons, the idea of core curriculum was very intriguing and interesting to me. The fact that I can experience various fields that are even outside of the scope of my major meant that the university does not want their students to only be knowledgeable of their field. Rather, it meant that Columbia provides its students with valuable opportunity to expand their scope of knowledge and to be prepared to go out to the society, having the necessary background knowledge about different cultures and society. Moreover, the presenter’s advice that “we must focus on what we want to do, not what the people want us to do” really helped me to focus on the present and set my future goals and plans to achieve my dream. It was a great opportunity to realize the most crucial fact that we often overlook or forget when living our lives. The most important thing when it comes to your life is what you value the most. And even if the thing you want to do with your life is different from what people say, it doesn’t matter because it is your own life after all. Follow your mind and passion, because that is the most significant thing that will actually give you happiness.

Kiwoong Lee, Homeschooling Yale University I was honored to go on a tour of Yale University. And we met tour guide of the Yale campus. The tour guide told us about history, Facts and conviction of Yale University. Yale University is a large research university with a wide array of programs, departments, schools, centers, museums, and many affiliated organizations. Since its founding in 1701, Yale has been devoted to expanding and sharing knowledge, inspiring innovation, and preserving cultural and scientific information for future generations. Yale has grown and evolved for more than 300 years. I was surprised when I heard it because the buildings of the Yale was not seem like that old. Moreover, I want to mention how the Yale was built in there briefly. The collegiate school trustees vote to move to more hospitable New Haven, fulfilling the dream of one of New Haven’s founders, the Reverend John Davenport, to establish a college there. In 1718, the collegiate school is renamed Yale College in recognition of Elihu Yale’s donation of books and goods. So there were a lots of books in library of Yale University. They have 8 million books and the whole school has nearly 15 million copies. I saw the main library of the Yale University while we tour the Yale. It was huge and looked cool. I thought the Yale has the best place for students. The reason that I thought it has a lot of advantages for students is the students who just get in to the Yale are assigned to 14 different Dormitory randomly so that the students can communicate with other people who never known each other for broadening their minds. It was the most interesting thing because I like to talk with people about anything. More interesting thing is 70% and 60% of students stay in their

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dorms, which is a huge number compared to other universities. Communicating with others is beneficial. We can learn new things from it and be inspired from it thus It can be an opportunity for us to develop. Yale also help students by giving out financial aid. And provide essential resources for research purposes. Shortly, I really loved the tour of the Yale University I would like to tour there again if I get more chances. I felt I should attend when I was thinking of Yale University. If I have a grateful opportunity to apply to the Yale during my college years, I am sure that I will have perfect time at The Yale University.

Princeton University After tour of the Yale University, we went to Princeton University. We met a student currently attending Princeton University, who would help us to understand Princeton. He was a Korean majoring in molecular biology. He told us quite a lot of things about the Princeton. The most interesting thing for me was that the only major festival he knew was a fraternity meal party where students would gather around to eat food with each other. And the most shocking thing was Princeton does not offer a dual major program. Most schools can take dual majors, even encouraging them to do so. Rather, the school provides a “minor” dual major program via certificates. Students can take different classes in their major. For instance, his peer would major architecture and attempted to get a certificate for dancing. His peer was able to link his major with dancing somehow. I am interested in music a lot because my mom was opera singer so I used to listen to classical music a lot since even before when I was born. And I used to play marimba which like xylophone but made out of wood and bigger. And also I am interested in business thus I wanted to take dual major, however due to Princeton’s rules, I am unable to take it. I felt sad when I was be told that.

While we tour the Princeton, I realized that the campus really huge but still smaller than Yale University. Surprisingly, not long after the tour began, I never noticed that because it was enormous enough anyway even though it was smaller than Yale. And it has a nice view. I was so absorbed in the good scenery that I couldn't think of any of the school's shortcomings. One of the things that I was impressed was the Einstein lecture room. It was a classroom where Einstein taught himself to students. We were sit on that classroom and had Q&A time with the guest, Korean Princeton’s student. 142


My feelings at the time were mysterious beyond description. I had really great time at Princeton campus. It was too bad that I couldn't go around the whole school. Therefore, I would like to tour here again and look around more specifically next time if I get more chances. Moreover, If I get grateful opportunity to get into the Princeton. I am one hundred percent sure that I will spend my college years happily.

Columbia University The day after we tour Yale and Princeton, We had great chance to tour Columbia University. We looked around the campus ourselves before we met a Korean student who was invited for leading our tour of the Columbia’s campus. The campus was enormous like a town. I felt like I was walking around a city. The view was amazing as well. After all this incredible time alone, we got together again to greet the guide and start a proper tour. Looking through the whole school, we saw the presentation of the guide in the largest classroom in the Columbia. The point of the presentation was the people. She said the people is so important to our life. The people inspire us, motivate us, and even change us. The people make us to be developed and to take a step to our goal. Human changes a lot according to their surroundings. We were all born and raised in different circumstances thus each of us think and act differently which means, We change depending on who we talk to, where we live and when and what we do. Just like everyone in the world is different. We can learn from different circumstances. We can grow by listening to others and learning things that I didn't think of. Moreover, we may find solutions that we haven't thought of for our future. I am the one who support these opinions. I personally enjoy talking to people about how to live our lives and How to find our dreams and follow them. However, no matter how much I talked, I couldn't find the answer. Even there are many people around me who didn't know what they wanted to do until they graduated from college. That's how hard it is to solve. But I am sure that dreams are not a set destination, but an endless journey. We can find the answer to our dream by having conversation with others, but we have to work on our own to achieve it. That’s the point. As I just mentioned I will try to move forward without being satisfied that I have taken a step forward in my dream by listening to the guest's lecture. I was sad that I didn't have a proper time to talk with the guest. I would like to talk with her more about our convictions if I get chance next time. And If I get grateful chance to get into the Columbia University, I wish to talk to many people who have different ideas.

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Minha Lee, Gwacheon Foreign Language High School Yale University ‘That’s why I chose Yale’, this is the title of a video that I watched impressively. All the students in the video seemed passionate not only with their own academic fields but with their sports club and extracurricular activities. Since I have never learned in abroad, I am accustomed with Korean educational system but not with abroad education. Therefore, through video, I started to wonder about abroad university. Through UNTP, I could have a great opportunity to visit one of the greatest schools, Yale University and get many precious advice. First of all, a student from Yale Univ. (whose name is Cameron) gave us an introduction about his school’s history, building structure etc. I could feel Cameron’s passion with his career and school during his talking which made me deeply concentrate with his introduction. The other point that I was impressed was that each building has their own architectural characteristics. I was very surprised that students’ dormitories are actually model of dormitories which are described in movie ‘Harry potter’. Dormitories were literally looked like a part of scene in the movie. Regrettable point was that we missed the opportunity to visited Beinecke library. It was our guide’s favorite building cause inside of the building was super beautiful. Although I googled it, I could feel how beautiful the inside of the library was. Next, we had a meeting with Korean senior. I could get many practical information from senior student such as school curriculum, club activities, scholarship and other many things. He told us that it is easy to make school club (you can make a club if you only recruit at least 6 members who will share the club together). If I am a student of Yale, I would like to make a ‘Korean culture club’ which promotes Korean food, Kpop... all about Korea. Since I heard that there are not much Korean students in the university, making the club could not only strengthen the bond between Koreans but promote the culture to students who is not familiar with Korean culture.

Columbia University Today I had one of the most impressive meetings in my life with a student, Kwon Ji Yeon in Columbia University ‘in the City of New York’. The reason why I said ‘one of the most impressive meetings in my life’ is that today meeting changed my mind about my university and further my future. The first impression of the University of Colombia was very relaxed. The magnificence of the two buildings facing each other was very impressive. One of the buildings is a library. Interestingly, the top part of the building is marked with the names of various philosophers, who are the authors of the books which students should read before they graduate. The building was so huge that I believe it to be a temple rather than a library. There were many statues on campus compared to other universities. Interesting fact about one of the statues is that the famous movie intro which a lion growls, got inspiration from lion statue which is in Columbia Univ, Also, as the university is located in New York City, the view of City from the school was very cool. 144


After being introduced the various buildings of the school, we started a meeting. She has been studied in data science for two years and recently decided to study double major in anthropologist. The reason she chose to study two very different subjects was because she loves people so much. During the lecture I was impressed with the fact that she traveled to 11 countries during the vacation and randomly interviewed about 100 people. She interviewed many people and through their interviews, she learned many things. She provided many valuable advice based on his many experiences in her study and life. For example, of course, it is not wrong to dream of a career like a doctor, lawyer, or a doctor which is recognized by the Korean society, but they need to be determined whether it is a dream that you really eager to do or because of social recognition evaluation or expectations of the job. She said the best compliment to her is: ‘You look excited being existing’. Judging by her speech, she is highly positive and active with everything around her. I was so touched by her thought and confidence. After listening to her speech, I came to think about my future. Recently, I decided to go on to abroad university. It was so abrupt change that I had no chance to think deeply about my school. However, through this experience I had chance to ask myself about my university. In the past, the reason why I want to go university is that I slightly felt going to university is obligation. But now, I really eager to go university in abroad, cause I want to experience and learn new things from various people. Now I am not worried about the fact that my dream is uncertain. I will go through many experiences to find out what I really want to do.

Ye Young Lee, Korea International School Yale University First of all, I loved the way the school portrayed its long history of 300 years in their buildings. Yale moved location in 1718 to New Haven reconstructing during the 20th century still maintaining their traditional styles. One memorable building I saw was the ‘Sterling Memorial Library’ which opened in 1931. I learned 145


that its original purpose was as a cathedral, but changed to a library to be a non-religious building and provide the place for all students. It was remarkable to see the school caring for the students, considering their religion and showing respect as well. When I saw the library, I noticed the little details. Not any single part was carelessly constructed and remained thoroughly organized. It also surprised me that they had a collection of almost all significant books throughout history such as the ‘Gutenberg Bible’. Additionally, the most important part I can remember from the tour is that Yale prioritizes the collaboration between students. Both Yale students that guided us emphasized that they enjoyed the sorting system of the dormitory where they were randomly chosen to one of the fourteen sections. They could meet new people and live throughout their school year. As they told me, I could see other students throughout the campus hanging along. I realized that the school provides lots of opportunities to study and also cooperate with others providing clubs along with education. The student who answered our questions today also told us that he was able to add another major after attending Yale. He also took AP courses and other extracurricular activities such as Mock Trial, Debate, newspaper, and Model United Nations at his high school. His participation in those varieties of activities motivated me to risk myself to be part of Model United Nations in my current sophomore year.

Princeton University Firstly, I was very thrilled today to attend a Q&A session with the student attending Princeton University. I especially was honored having the session in the Einstein Room. It was a grateful and valuable experience. We learned from the guiding student that Princeton doesn't provide a double major, unlike other universities. One thing I was surprised was that Princeton provides a session during school time to visit their professors and ask questions or get help for their assignments. This similar concept is also at our school called an autonomous block. It was kind of relatable since we also get to have independent time to catch up or get help from teachers. While taking the tour, I noticed that unlike other universities, Princeton had a calmer environment; they had their distinctive characteristics shown around the campus. The calm environment showed me that the campus was a great place to study alone quietly. I also loved seeing the beautiful dormitories which I would never be able to see in Korea. They were old but had this special aura from the past years. I was also amazed at people who take wedding pictures at campus because the buildings are so beautiful. Even though every building looked different, each of them had a design which made the place more harmonious. My best moment was when I saw the ivies surrounded in the "Nassau Hall." Ivies are a representation of Ivy Leagues. The ivies planted was representing the past graduates of Princeton every year since the opening. I think planting those ivies was a creative way to show the school’s history and the maintenance of it. Moreover, during the explanation, the student told us that a variety of Korean students are part of the Princeton campus forming an international setting of the place. I also enjoyed the rumor about not able to graduate when the students of Princeton enter through the big gate. Overall, today’s experience gave me the motivation to study hard and achieve goals just like the student did.

Columbia University “There is no real answer to our lives. Be honest with yourself and choose what makes you feel like yourself.” The moment I heard Jiyeon’s words, I was astonished. After touring around the campus for a while, everyone was exhausted. Nobody was expecting the whole lecture would be that special. Firstly, the campus was very organized; the two main libraries were in the center of the campus. I liked the way each building were different following the style of their major. Jiyeon Kwon, a rising junior from Columbia University in the city of New York, loves people. She recommends Columbia because the school is diverse and international. She states that her life changed after 146


coming to Columbia University. I bet everyone could feel her passion for her school when she was jumping around, praising how lovely her school was. She was also able to meet international people around the world allowing her to understand and realize how wonderful people could be. Her school changed her mind set into a global citizen allowing her to approach new people with enthusiasm. Another point she underscores was that the campus was located in New York City, a place provided with more opportunities and support from a global network and other companies. The most memorable part of her speech was when she talked about herself about changing her majors twelve times because she couldn't choose what she was passionate about. After going through multiple majors, she finally realized this year that she loved people so much that she now studies anthropology. I was surprised when she even traveled around the world to meet new people. I could kind of relate to her about not knowing my passionate major. My recent worries were about the path I should choose to go and what to focus on studying. However, after listening to her wonderful speech, I realized that I don’t need to choose something and rather just take action on things I enjoy. Jiyeon added: “there is nothing to lose when [I] try new things.� I got hope and comfort from her and got the answer to my long-going question. I am never too late searching for my dreams and not afraid of new challenges. I am now planning to risk myself this year and try challenges so that I won't regret my high school life.

Jeongmin Lee, Southville International School Yale University Today I went to Yale University. Actually, I took a long time to go to there, but since I heard lots of information about there (Also about Yale MUN), I was excited to visit there. Firstly, I had a tour inside Yale. The weather was really hot, but it was better than Korea since it was not that humid. The building of the university itself was really nice, and also I can feel that since the history of the school was pretty long, it attracts me to enter the school. I had a meeting with a student who attend Yale University, studying about

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ethics, politics, economics and biology. Since my dream is to be a diplomat and he is a bit related to the subject that I am interested in, it was a great time to have a meeting and know more about the future. I had a problem with managing the stress with my own study, I asked him when you were in high school and had a hard time studying about some subject, how did you overcome that problem? And he told me that He had a mindset that by studying hard at that time, in the future, there won’t be hardship and has the ability to study what he wants to study. In conclusion, I like the system of Yale University that If a student needs funding for school, the school can fund for students.

Princeton University Today I went to Princeton University, located in New Jersey, which was the best and the most attractive university I saw. It took almost 4 hours to get there. It was so tiring to ride the bus for 4 hours. I thought it will be a hard time to look around and have another meeting with a senior student attending Princeton University, studying about chemistry. But by entering the room which is used by Einstein a long time ago, it changes my mind and let me to ask him some questions about the future. Actually there was no relationship between the interest that I have and that He has, but for me, it doesn’t matter. I asked about his future goal after he graduates Princeton University, and He answered that actually, he doesn’t have the exact goal since he has one more year in studying there, but He wants to apply NGOs and work there for the future dream. So by having a meeting with the senior student, it gave me a chance to think about my life and my future.

Columbia University Today I went to Columbia University that I enjoyed a lot. Since it took not that long time to approach there (probably 30 minutes). Actually the weather was extremely hot that I was so tired and wanted to lie on the bed. Anyway, I had a meeting with a senior student attending Columbia University, studying about datascience and anthropology. She explained about the school with her experience in school and it attracts me to have more interest in school and herself in daily school life. I was curious about her school life and also about the hardship on her school life. She answered me that since it is located in New York City, lots of people think that It is hard to make relationship or grouping between people (Because the mood of the city gives those thoughts). But if you find and trying to join the group, it makes her more suitable to stay and study in the school. There was one thing that I was surprised with her. She has lots of interest on many other things. But since having lots of interest and get a good score in all topics is not easy. So I thought I should have mindset like her. Actually, my goal is to go to Korea University, not other foreign University. But by having this meeting with her, it changes my mind to think about the University in other countries.

Chaewon Lee, Busan International Foreign Language High School Yale University When we arrived at Yale, the scenery there was enough to overwhelm us. The relaxed appearance of students there on campus, facilities and campus made us naturally comfortable. One of the university's students was our tour guide and he was quite humorous and active, continuing his explanation of the school in a relaxed atmosphere. Yale was such a well-known prestigious university, but I didn't really have much information. So his explanation was more impressive, and I admired him for living hard by studying what he wanted to do. He told me that Yale has especially the advantage of being free to study as an undergraduate-oriented school. It was also interesting to see that Yale was not a religious institution by painting the imaginary character, Mother Yale, inside the cathedral-shaped building. Inside of Yale University, which was seen during the tour, was as wide as it could be described as a town. There were all kind of facilities, and the students walking there looked bright as well. In comparison with

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the campus of Korean universities, and of course there are some advantages to it, but I thought, "I've been living in the narrow world," and "There are some students who are spreading their dreams in such a wide world," which gave me an opportunity to reflect on my life. After the campus tour, we had a meeting with our seniors. Although there were not many questions in the beginning and the middle compared to the latter part of the first meeting, I also admired the senior who explained about the school with his best efforts. Among many of his words, "I studied hard in high school because I didn't have a particular goal and I thought I can expand my choice later and increase the stability of my choice if I study hard.� was the most sympathetic and touching. Rather, I felt ashamed and regretful as I recalled my past that I wandered for a while because I couldn't set a clear goal. Time at Yale, which can be short or long, was a wonderful experience to learn than I expected. Though I had never thought about going abroad, I could think about future college once more by looking at students living happily in school. When I become a college student in the future, I want to be a senior who can give my juniors a wonderful life experience.

Princeton University Doesn't the mere mention of the name of the university make us excited? We visited Princeton University, on August 3. Personally, the exterior of Princeton University was the most attractive among all the other university I had ever seen. It was not just a medieval building, but also a luxurious new building, and the harmony of each building seemed to have been the reason. There were places where the debate was first held, and the outer walls of some buildings were inscribed with IVY, which means Ivy League. I thought it would enhance Princeton student’s stature and affection for school. It was good to see not only the students but also the children playing and the friendly images of the old couple looked so peaceful. A senior student who met at a meeting hosted the tour, and the introduction to the dormitory was the most memorable. I thought it was a museum because there were pretty pink flowers around the building and it was more elaborate than any other building, but it was a dormitory. I was depressed when I reminded of my 149


school dormitory, but I decided to continue to listen to my senior's explanation with joy. He also said that he gets healing by the flowers that are blooming around the dormitory, and that the dormitory building was in the movie "Beautiful Mind." Although the building was so beautiful and did not look around for a long time due to lack of time, it seemed that being pretty even the dormitory was one of the reasons that allowed students to have a more passionate school life. The meeting with the senior was held in a place called the Einstein Classroom. As soon as I entered the entrance of the classroom, I thought it was unusual because I was distracted by the chairs and blackboards that reached the ceiling, and it was the place where Einstein lectured a long time ago. One of the surprises of the senior's explanations was that we could not pursue multiple majors at Princeton University. He said, "Double major is hard in real life because there are so many assignments in one major, and if you want to do one, you can proceed to the minors." It was also surprising that different schools had different majors, but Princeton was also an undergraduate-oriented school. I was inspired by my senior who speaks English more comfortably and fluently than Korean. As I am a second language learner, I realized that being able to speak various languages fluently was very attractive and regretted studying lightly. If I go back to Korea, I promise I will become a person who lives with intense passion and intensity like my seniors and students I met here.

Columbia University We ended up our last tour of college with Colombia. Before the meeting began, we took various photos in groups during our spare time. Since the school campus was wide and pretty, we could easily find the photo zone. The sun was really hot, but I managed to hold out on my umbrella. Then, we saw a senior running to us with positive energy. We started the meeting with an active greeting and began to explore the inside of the campus before starting the meeting in earnest. The campus of Columbia University was largely divided into two types, and campus was consisting of a modern building and various statues between the buildings. It was like a statue with its own meaning and there were artworks inside the campus. However, since the meeting in Colombia was most useful and memorable, I would like to talk more about the meeting rather than about the school. First of all, it was amazing that what my senior thought important in life was the same thing that I thought. Based on the experience I've accumulated in my life so far, I grew up meeting and learned that I wanted to think of "people" as the most important thing. I deeply sympathize with the saying that a person cannot live without a human being, as it appears in the book, "What does a person live with?" That's why my senior's words were more impressive. I admired the senior who ran a project to visit 11 countries and meet about 150 people by herself, not as a "me" that others force me to live as. It is never easy for anyone to challenge. It may be beneficial to meet many people, but there could be some problem, too. In spite of that kind of situation, I felt my senior's love for humanity. Every time she spoke, I felt love and respect for the other person and it warmed me up. As I said earlier, she changed his major as many as 12 times to find herself and didn't give up until the end. As a result, the senior was really beautiful and cool. In a way, it may be considered a dangerous, low-stability life, but I think senior life is a representative example of valuable life. I don't know when I will have enough courage to live such a life, but I want to be the person who can tell a story about my life proudly by working hard without giving up. It was such a rewarding time that I wanted to go to Colombia.

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HyunJi Lee, Cheongdeok High School Columbia University In my personal experience, out of all 3 universities we’ve looked around, Columbia was absolutely the best. Ji-yeon provided us a fantastic tour and performed fabulous speech about Columbia and herself. In the campus, there were countless interesting and meaningful sculptures. For example, two lion sculptures on both side of the building because lion is a symbol of Columbia. Moving on to the speech that Ji-yeon presented, I was greatly inspired by it. Experiencing Yale, Princeton and at last Columbia, I found an apparent similarities in between the students. They were confident with everything they were doing and kept trying to develop themselves. Also, they all say that I am the one who have to make a miracle, not the school. That means that they all believe in themselves and I think that is what made them such a lovely students. Nonetheless, to me, Ji-yeon gave me the clearest answer. The time she just got accepted by Columbia, she didn’t know who she was. She framed herself as a ‘natural science’ person but still was not sure about what she liked. Then, she began her long trip to 11 countries and interviewed 150 people. I totally respect her bravery to try something new and wanted to be like her. She gave all of us an amazing advice that I cannot write all down, but there are some that are especially more precious. My question was how she was able to love people and herself so much, and the second question was how she could talk to herself. What came back was: Don’t frame myself that I’m kind of a person who does not like people. And most importantly, I only know how I think you think I think, so do whatever I feel what is right.

Another thing I was strongly influenced was: Begin with small things. I always thought of doing something massive even though I didn’t even know the basic things. But then I realized that the reason why I’ve never

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put my ideas into practice came from my ambition. So from now on, I’ll start from something small like searching my interests on the internet or read books about it and so on. From now on, what’ll come into my mind when I say Columbia is: THE PEOPLE, International Diversity. I solidly felt I want to be a student of Columbia and meet people from diverse countries and become openminded person.

Princeton University I never thought of applying to an international university until I met Princeton. The place we had QnAs with Jooyoung (at Princeton) was a place where Einstein actually had his lecture. It was a pleasure to be in such place. Touring around the buildings, I could definitely feel the university’s deep consideration toward the students when I saw the dormitory area because they had flowers all around which probably meant to get rid of their stress with its scent and beautifulness. Relating to the QnA hour, I was extremely depressed when I wrote a cover letter because I didn’t know what I wanted to do and who I am supposed to be. Thus, my question was: Would there be any factors that differentiated you from other applicants? His answer to the question was: I have to imply what I want to show about myself. It did sound a little abstract but what really touched me was that, eventually, I have to find who I am. The way to do this is to list all of significant events that happened to me and find what’s common. During the process, I would be able to find what caused small and big changes in my life. It could be a person, it could be an event, maybe a thing or anything. I never knew and no one ever taught me how to be myself. After all, with his answers, what came into my mind was that it might be a great idea to disguise myself as a product and assume I’m promoting myself to admission officers. As a consequence, with Jooyoung’s advice and my enlightenment, I will absolutely try my best to figure out my personal characteristics and my strengths.

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Yujun Jung, Anyang Foreign Language High School Columbia University Back in the days when I was a student at elementary, I lived following my interests. I’m not really sure, but I guess my life was fun and interesting. By the time I became a middle schooler, the purpose of living and the motivation of hard working was choosing and entering high school. However, when I finally became the student of a school which I longed to be, I couldn’t find any motivation or passion in my life. The dream of being ‘Global leader’ or ‘International official’ seemed useless. I set those jobs as an ultimate goal of life, and from that moment that I started to feel everything was meaningless, there was no need to live life to its fullest. Even till the day before the tour around Columbia, there was no thought in me. This visit, however, changed my lethargic life. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to the tour at Columbia University since I had no vision at American universities. However, weird infrastructure of college and its unique characteristics, such as location or mood of campus started to invoke my interest with this university. Furthermore, I was deeply impressed with the speaker, who guided our tour around the college, because her passion and the way she was living motivated my life again, and made me remind of what I really wanted to do. I wanted to meet people, and widen my sight. Staying in made-up frame was not me. The people and giving students wide view was what Columbia University was essentially doing. I was not particularly thinking about studying abroad, but this experience gave me a chance to think about learning at wider place. 153


Hajung Cho, Jeonbuk Foreign Language High School Yale University “Passionate” was the word I heard the most during the meeting with the Yale student. It actually did seem that the students in Yale were passionate about everything. Passionate about their studying, school clubs, in every aspect of their life. It reminded me of myself, who, already worn out, being a second grade student of high school and competing with other students. I found out that passion was what I needed now. The meeting with the Yale student helped me become more passionate again. It reminded me of my mindset and passion when I first entered high school. “Diversity” was another word that I heard a lot in the meeting. Yale had students from various countries and had diverse fields and programs. Living in Korea, it is difficult for me to experience the broad world. But being in Yale, this will be possible. I also got to learn that in Yale, having whatever major you want was pretty easy. No big barriers getting another major, which meant there were easier chances of learning in various fields. This was pretty impressive for me. Yale reminded me of the importance of being in a better environment with better people. It gave me the opportunity to look into the broader world.

Columbia University When I first saw the buildings of Columbia University, I was busy taking pictures of them. They were beautiful and mesmerizing, just like the other Ivy League universities. Then I met the student of Columbia University, Ji-yeon Gweon. I could feel how energetic she was about introducing her school to us. The campus tour with her were all about excitement and energy. After the campus tour, we had lecture and discussion time with her. She introduced herself as an ambitious person who liked facing the broader world, and this, she said, was the reason why she decided not to stay in

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Korea and to study abroad in the city of New York. It was pretty cool how she handled her life because she seemed to be very courageous and decisive on the moments where she had to make big choices. For example, she changed her major 12 times. She rejected good and stable internship chances. Shocked by her braveness to do such actions, I looked back at myself, who always chose easier path, easier options when important chances came. She gave me the opportunity to think again about my life, about making choices, about being courageous. Broader world, broader chances seemed like an important factor. I decided to become a braver person who could choose to experience a bigger world. Meeting with the Columbia student was really meaningful.

Eo Jin Choi, Busan International Foreign Language High School Yale University Dale Carnegie said. "Open your mind to change. Welcome to the change. And pursue that." I used to take this as the motto of my life that I value my own changes through meeting new people, trying new fields or challenging them. In fact, I haven't found a specific answer to which university I'm going to go to yet. But Yale seemed to tell its students, "Try anything new with an open mind." Yale University encourages students to do many school activities, for example students can make any club if only six people gather and want to make a club. If I get into Yale University, I really want to make “student-UNICEF” club and “volunteering” club. Whatever I will do, it is a big good advantage of Yale University that we can start something new with friends easily. When I went to Yale University, which represented the United States, I could see why it became a university representing a country. The doors of green grass-covered parks and buildings facing one center gave Yale the spirit of placing importance on "free undergraduate life for students." It was a very different feeling from the nation's universities that "just looked at academic background" in that it freely sets their own schedules and provides an environment where they can learn as much as they want. The biggest advantage of Yale seems to be that it allows students to have diverse and new experiences for their long-term dreams and lives

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as well as their academic parts. I could imagine what I would be doing if I were a student at Yale University, by listening to an explanation from a Yale University student named Comeron Luther. Thinking about whether if I could take these various classes, such as international relations and foreign languages, education, club activities with friends, and research in rap, I thought Yale is a school that is capable of accepting any student. Looking around the buildings of Yale University, I felt grand because they were all old. The building, first built as a church but later as a library, was relatively new, but it was designed as if it had been built in the old days to suit the overall atmosphere of the school. The attention paid to the school's various educational system.

Princeton University

Princeton University was the second university to come to with friends with the 14th U.N. expert education. There, we could have time with a Korean mentor named Kim Keun-ho, a student at Princeton University. What's special about Princeton was that, above all, we had a meeting in the classroom Einstein had taught decades ago. It was so amazing that the name Einstein, which has been remembered as a genius since childhood, was attached to the classroom where we exchanged questions with our mentor. Unlike our country, which is constantly pursuing the latest and greatest things, it felt so wonderful to remember the past without changing it like this. Unlike other schools, Princeton felt "professional." Princeton University, which can only have one major, had the feeling of creating experts in all departments accordingly. Four years in Princeton, thinking about one path intact and trying to find the right path for one, could be worth a student's life. And if I were you, I thought about which department I would use that time. When asked if there was any difficulty in discrimination or speaking in English during school life, the mentor's answer was very impressive. "The University of Princeton is studying with friends from various countries such as Indonesia, Australia, England, and so on, so I don't think we have to have a hard time speaking in English. Since I'm with so many different people, I don't think it's a big problem to talk in English, even if I'm a little short of speaking in English." I think I'm still having a little trouble speaking or writing in English, which I've never studied abroad before. But it was so impressive that such diversity allowed someone to focus on getting together without focusing on what was good or bad.

Columbia University As soon as I entered Columbia University in the city of New York, I saw a long road and a temple-like library in the middle of the pavilion. On top of it were the names of the authors and philosophers of books that students must read. Korea and America both values reading books but Columbia University had a different method of facilitating the value. It was not just a reading for spec, but a reading that nurtured a person's culture. It made me think, "This is a school that provides education for students' lives." Today's senior who introduced us to the school while touring Columbia University was Kwon Ji-yeon. My senior was a very passionate person. "I think he's been such an active person since he was a kid," he said, as he was trying anything new and relentless. However, I was surprised to hear that he was not a challenging person or tried something like this every day until he was a sophomore. One idea that the senior could have changed so much was said to have been the question, "Who am I?" Who am I? I'm very interested in people's human rights. The reason is probably thanks to a news I saw a few years ago. The news that a little boy was pushed to death by the sea because he was a refugee and was on a boat that crossed the sea at the risk of his life was shocking to learn that the situation and location of a person was important enough to control his or her life. And I felt that I wanted to help people who were forced to risk their lives, who were bound to be threatened with their own safety, and naturally I wanted to protect their human rights. "But now, in fact, is it possible to be a human rights advocate, a person who does that?" And I was also asked if I could do

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something like this if I had some problems in my relationship with them, which protects people's human rights. So, I asked my senior about this. "It's okay if you're not sure what you're interested in or what you want to do. If you don't give up and keep coming, I'm sure you'll be sure about your interest." My senior's advice was to give me the passion to keep coming out of my dreams. The senior picked "various people" as the biggest advantage of Columbia University. Columbia University has become a university that I really want to go to because I like relationships with people. If I go to Columbia University, I thought I would likely be studying about "people" more than anything else. Taking advantage of the Columbia University's feature of meeting many people, I want to watch the mission: "Meet three new people a week and talk for three hours." And when I have carried out this mission for a few months, I want to check my abilities and mindset to be with people. I really want to get accepted to Columbia University and start this mission.

Sumin Han, Korea International School Pangyo Campus Yale University Going to Yale University for the first time was a glamorous moment for me. Before, I only knew that Yale was simply just one of Ivy League universities. However, when the bus entered into the streets of Yale, I observed the amazing architect of this university was unique and meticulous. The friendly tour guide told the history of Yale, the pride, and the point that stands out from all the other universities. While walking through the long hallways inside the building, I felt like the main character in the movie Harry Potter. The tour guide also told us that the scene of many movies took place in Yale University. Not only that, I realized all the people at Yale University were accepting diverse types and they were one of the friendliest people I have ever met. Additionally, the campus itself made all the doors face inwards in order for people to meet and socialize in the green area. I viewed the students gathering together, doing

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activities, and cooperating together. This was an amazing fact, because this university prioritizes not only in studying but also the interaction between the students as well. I, as a student who is attending an international school, this experience was beneficial for my future. Since my goal is to go to an Ivy League school, today’s journey let me understand the process of a university in America. By interviewing with the upperclassmen, I learned the importance of how to appeal yourself. Rather than focusing on scores too much, it was crucial for me to show a special aspect. This lead to my thinking of actually wanting to apply to this school which set up an everlasting goal.

Columbia University Today’s experience, going to Columbia University, gave me an impactful influence to me. Since I did not know much about Columbia University, I learned numerous aspects of Columbia University. When we first entered the university, the structure of the buildings were beautiful and personally, of all the universities that I went, I thought Columbia University had the best infrastructure. Walking inside Columbia University felt like walking through a palace since the building had a glamorous structure. The tour guide emphasized about how it is so essential for us to keep searching for the dream that does not exist that fast. She told us about her experience, how she met countless number of people and that lead her to choose the major of anthropology. I could 100 percent relate to this since I am a student that is not ready for choosing my major, and by her explaining the process is normal, this made me focus on searching on my path much more. Additionally, she gave an explanation how meeting people, interacting with them was such an important part for her. This made me wonder about myself When touring other universities taught me the basic academic skills, touring Columbia University directly taught me a life lesson, a goal for my future, and it is fine to be unsure about my major as long as I keep searching. This motivated me to keep searching for what suits me, what makes me happy, what makes myself me. Hopefully in the future, this advice can make a much brighter future for me.

Woo Eunbeen, Kyunghwa Girls’ High School Yale University When I was young, as my family runs a church, I was able to see lots of foreign workers who suffer from the lack of help from their countries. This made me dream to be a diplomat, an individual who protects my own citizens who are struggling with various issues overseas. My dream got bigger as my father frequently visited immigration offices and embassies to help them in many ways and I was always next to him. Since then, I thought I should develop my English skills first and thus I have shown interest in language and especially English. As I grew older, there was a blessed encounter with many people in my life. Although learning a new language and even culture was a huge challenge, I enjoyed myself studying English and working hard towards a goal. In the meantime, I got a chance to participate in the YMUN, Model United Nations held at Yale University, as a school representative through Hope to Future Association in the winter of 2018. I also found out about the training program at the United Nations, which was another program that Hope to Future Association organized. At first, the primary reason why I applied for this program was that I just wanted to go to the United States, and the UN New York headquarter in particular. I prepared by reading the pre-education materials and submitting the following tasks for approximately five months, but as the time approached, I was extremely confused about my choice on whether this is a good or bad choice. The time has passed and the day of departure came, and I still could not conclude this confusion. After arriving in the United States, we had a tour and a Q&A session at Yale and Princeton on the first day.

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I was moved by the way the tour guide introduced the school. He had great pride and answered with details of the questions that we asked. Especially through the meeting with seniors from each school, I could finally find an answer to the question of my confusion. One student asked, "What was your motivation when you were a high school student, that made you work this hard and to attend this school?" He laughed and answered, “It was a challenge to me as well. I also had hard times, but I did not have a clear goal and a dream. So, I thought I should try harder so that I can choose whatever I want to do when I find one." When I heard this, I had to reflect on myself, being discouraged and stressed by my dream and life goals that have gradually faded away. This led me to break own thoughts that unclear goals make one unable to do anything and inspired me to work harder so that I may have a choice in the future.

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Eo Jin Han, Geoje Jungang Middle School Yale University It was my first time to go to university in Ivy League and I went there with great expectations. When I first saw the campus, I imagined how dazzling it would feel to study and live in such a beautiful place. I thought I was in a palace. Our guide has explained us about Yale’s history and how it works. Yale’s history was quite interesting and the point that Yale refused to put the cathedral inside the campus was funny. I could understand why school building were so beautiful. But the most fascinating part of Yale’s system was its dormitory system. I could see that Yale promotes friendship by dormitory system and group system. With that program, any student would be able to find their friends and build friendship. I also liked that it is a duty to take diverse field’s courses. It would make students busy, but it is also true that it gives new opportunity to find what students really want to study. I thought Yale is a genuine university that encourages students to enjoy community life and give opportunity to find and study what they want. It was a short time but students in Yale all looked bright and lively.

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Photo: inteducationucjc.wordpress.com

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UNIVERSITY STAFF REFLECTION

Jiahn BAE Sungkyunkwan University “If someone asked me the very one thing that I've learned from this program, I would say that delivery is all that matters. …. In this program, I tried to learn the mindset of the United Nations. It was to communicate. To use relationships as an extrinsic incentive to change people.”

If someone asked me the very one thing that I've learned from this program, I would say that delivery is all that matters. Yes, good content can catch the audience's attention. However, content alone itself cannot keep the audience focused until the end. I was touched and moved by those lecturers who used videos to visualize their explanation, who often projected their voice to emphasize certain keywords and those who tried to interact with us. Good delivery also incites people to have the will to communicate with the speakers such as asking questions. I also realized that I asked questions limited to those who got me interested in their speech. Whether their lecture topics were in my interest or not, did not matter; it was whether their speech persuaded me that I will get a satisfying answer for my curiosity. One inspiring speech was by Mr. Hamid Rashid, on gender equality. "The definition of work is becoming fluid these days; we can choose when to work and where to work." Now this, was something that I already knew. However, when he pointed out how this fluidity of work is beneficial for gender equality since it can be understood that 'anyone' can work anywhere, now that was something that I haven't thought of. His insights and his attempts to introduce new and wider viewpoints to us encouraged me to ask him a question. I asked him about his motives to give up the privileges as a man and to speak up for women. He chuckled, then went on saying that he does not think that things such as sharing house chores were giving up his privileges since he liked washing dishes. Although it sounded like he was joking, his words were strong. They implied that there was no such work categorized only for women or only for men. Mr. Dominique Favre was another lecturer who invoked me to ask questions. He was an honest speaker. When others highlighted the prestige part of being ambassadors, Mr. Favre went further and mentioned the hard part of being one of them. It was, that there are moments where they have to declare statements that they don't 100% agree upon. I asked him how he deals with stress that comes from that process. He responded, "I read them, but I don't learn them."

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Delivering opinions with our words that we don't necessarily agree, this can happen to anyone, especially those who just started their career and all they can do is to follow the boss's directions. Hence, I knew by my heart that Mr. Favre's response will help me to deal professionally with similar difficulties in the future. In this program, I tried to learn the mindset of the United Nations. It was to communicate. To use relationships as an extrinsic incentive to change people. The UN has a clear limitation, that it can never force a country. However, it still works every day to overcome it, and as a result, succeeds in convincing countries. Just like that, I hope to mature as an adult myself, who never stops to find ways to influence the world for a better world.

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You Sun YANG Duksung Women’s University “Writing this reflection, I was able to look back and reflect on myself in those situations, and I really appreciate this valuable program that gave me an opportunity to look back on my entire life”.

This was my second visit to Yale, Princeton, and Columbia University. When my family had the Ivy League tour about 4 years ago, I was just a normal freshman in high school who wanted to be an adult quickly. So I thought that I’m not involved in these universities, and I just looked around there and the students while thinking that they are living in a different world to me. At that time, Korean students in those universities introduced their campus and we had Q&A time just like this time. Of course, I was NOT interested in them, so I was just busy taking pictures of the overwhelming exterior of the universities. This time, however, I tried to listen carefully to what they said. What I felt as I listened to their short lecture was that they are all very happy and satisfied with their present situations. The reason why I was jealous of them is that they know exactly what they like and they are interested in. To be honest, I don’t think I’m dissatisfied with myself right now, but the thing is that I haven’t found what I really love yet unlike them. For example, a student from Columbia University said she loves ‘people’ so much that she started double major in anthropology. She seemed so happy and joyful during her lecture on ‘people’ that I could even tell how much she cares about ‘people’ and likes ‘people’ by just a short lecture. I’ve taken many people’s advice in my life, and most of them said “It’s important to find what you want or like.”, but every time I was like ‘Yes, It is important. I know.’ and I haven’t put it into action. However after her short speech, for the first time, I seriously started to consider what I really like to do, and think about it one by one. I got really motivated by them, and I really would like to say thank you so much for changing my passive mindset. Next, entering into the UN headquarters and attending lectures from workers for UN were such unusual and precious experiences I’ve ever had. Since they represent the United Nations, they gave us lectures based on the official activities and positions of the United Nations. Nevertheless, when the lecturer was asked questions from our students, he didn’t only just express the official stance of the United Nations, but also made his position clear additionally, and I was very impressed by him, especially during the lecture on the topic of disarmament.

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Yoori CHO Hankuk University of Foreign Studies “I was so happy that I could get so many precious ties through this program. The week-long journey with college friends and pretty teenagers who gave me a lot of lessons was a precious moment to remember. “

This 14th U.N expert education was a new challenge for me. Participating as a college student staff gave me another perspective on the world. I felt a sense of responsibility and leadership that I had not felt last year as a student. Last year, education on SDGs at the U.N headquarters in New York and MUN activities at Yale, where I participated as a Korean delegation, were my first step toward the world. Communicating with the people of the world and experiencing the international stage are still vivid for me. While participating in the program, including me, many students received a lot of help from college student staffs in various areas such as how to participate in the MUN program, background knowledge of UN education, and how to write result reports. I was so grateful to many teachers, including college students, for helping us devotedly. With good memories of the program and the idea that I want to help students who want to undergo international experience like me, I joined the 14th U.N Specialist Training as a staff member. I was so excited by the fact that there is a world which is wider than that I was going through. Also I was so impressed that there is a lot of networking and education while I visited prestigious universities with students. I found the common points of the seniors I met during college tours, they have the brilliance of taking chances. Unlike me, who do not know how to use the opportunities, seniors have grown up by taking advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead of them. Listening to their stories, I realized that in order not to miss an opportunity, I needed a lot of effort that was worth the opportunity. Also this effort combined to give me the power to take advantage of the opportunity. While I was on college tours, my goal was clear that I really want to go to language abroad training. Not only to learn advanced English spoken by the United Nations, but also to share various cultures and grow together abroad. College tour was a valuable time to learn about many seniors' success stories, then education at the U.N headquarters in New York was a meaningful time to draft my vision in the future. The most memorable education of UN headquarters was the Legal Affairs. While attending my university class in Korea, I found out that there were no Korean judges at the ICJ. So I was wondering why there are still no Korean judges in the ICJ. Also I was wondering if there are any cases where the views of judges affect while judging on international disputes.

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The speaker explained the reasons for not having a Korean judge in the ICJ for two main aspects. The first is the difference between constitutional law and international law. After all, academic efforts by Koreans wishing to become lawyers often remain in the constitutional law without reaching international law. Second, she explained that Korean famous judges do not speak English fluently like their mother tongue, Korean. Thus, there is a limit to communicate with judges of the ICJ with various nationalities, and there is also a limit when making judgements. It became clearer after the lecture that it was true that the judge's nationality view influenced the outcome of the trial to some extent. In the course of the lecture, if people ask the ICJ to decide on the dispute over Dokdo between Korea and Japan, I thought that we should investigate the influence of Japanese among the current ICJ judges. Under the big goal of becoming the first Korean judge of the ICJ, I created a goal to create an active environment for Koreans in the ICJ in The Hague, Netherlands, using my major. All the speakers at the UN had pride and passion for their work, and most of all, they looked happy while they are working at UN. I was so impressed with the way they realized their humanitarian values and looking for their own happiness, and I pledged to do the same thing as they did. It is students who I would like to say thank you in this program. I participated in this program to help the students, but after the education was over, I found out that I had learned a lot from them. I was afraid of what I should do after I go to college and what to do next. I couldn't find a solution.

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But together with the students finally I got the answer. Let's give it a try before you think about it too hard! I have learned to challenge anything with passion rather than worry. The passion that withered my mind was revived as I watched the students actively participate in the program, collaborate together to make presentations and produce results. Students did not only participate passionately in the U.N education and college tour but also actively participated in the museum tour and free time in the tourist attractions. They fully observed and enjoyed what was given to them, and did their best to participate in everything. I think it is part of my learning for students to focus on what's in front of them and enjoy their lives. I commend my team. Our group didn't prepare the presentation under the blind goal of winning. They valued the process of preparing the presentation and focused on helping each other and filling the gaps. As a result, our team was recognized as a best team. During watching the children prepare for the presentation and won the prize, they cherished the process, found learning in it, and tried hard for its own sake. I was very grateful that the students thought of me as a senior and sister rather than just a teacher. The students opened their heart to me so that I could truly communicate with them, share values and feel happiness together. I was so thankful that the children had made me a great being who was not confident about leading and caring for someone. I was so happy that I could get so many precious ties through this program. The week-long journey with college friends and pretty teenagers who gave me a lot of lessons was a precious moment to remember. I don’t think the end of this program is an eternal breakup with them. I want to make another my appearance with the precious experiences and ties I have experienced through this program. Also I want to continue to have a good relationship with people who I met during this program. I highly recommend this program to friends who want to experience new perspectives and new connections.

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ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW

Hope to the Future Association

www.hopetofuture.org

Status

NGO Representative at the United Nations Department of Global Communication (UNDGC)

Program

Youth Education Programs and Sponsor Programs supporting the United Nations and its works, Global Citizenship Education Development, and Sustainable Development Goals(SDGS) in both domestic and international level

Website

www.hopetofuture.org

Email Contact

webmaster@hopetofuture.org +82-2-6952-1616

Hope to the Future Association (HFA) is a non-profit organization registered under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. HFA has acquired the status of an associated NGO with UNDPI in June 2014. HFA is deeply committed to supporting youth around the world. Our core value is sustainable support, voluntary participation, international partnerships, and empowering youth.

Main Programs (1) UN Headquarters Training Program in New York and Geneva  Youth UN Training held at the UN Headquarters in Geneva and New York  Attending Lectures by UN High Officials and International Organization Experts such as the Secretary-General of UNEP and the President of General Assembly  Build Professional Knowledge on the SDGs and Global Issues that the UN mainly deals with  Discussion with the UN Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (2) International Model United Nations - ’Yale MUN & Yale MUN Korea’  On February 2018, Hope to the Future Association and the Yale MUN Secretariat signed an official MoU and agreed to a collaborative partnership on organizing YMUN Korea  Participating in International MUN Competitions as Korean Delegation  Attending MUN Training by UN Ambassadors and experts from International Organizations (3) Global Youth Forum on the United Nations – ‘Academic Forum on the United Nations’  The forum is a pedagogical four-day program that aims to improve the degree of understanding and professional knowledge on the UN and the role of International Organization.  The theme of the forum is ‘Sustainable Development Goals and Peace’ (4) Donation Campaign for Children in Africa - ‘Container of Hope’  Sending 40ft long container to African developing countries filled with translated English books, shoes, school supplies gathered from donation campaigns raised by students

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Sponsors SM Corporation

㈜삼경엠에스 www.iskms.com

SM Corporation operates and manages consigned dormitories of foreign language high schools, private high schools, international schools, universities, and other training centers. It provides professional services based on accumulated know-hows with high level of credibility.

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

en.apu.ac.jp/

Under the principles of “Freedom, Peace and Humanity’, ‘International Mutual Understanding’, and the ‘Future Shape of the Asia Pacific Region’, APU was established on April 1, 2000 with the aid of Oita Prefectur, Beppu City and a range of organization and individuals from Japan and overseas. APU’s philosophy is to create a university campus that produces graduates with the skills they need to contribute to international society based on the fundamental principles of Freedom, Peace and Humanity, International Mutual Understanding, and the Future Shape of the Asia Pacific Region. With almost half of the faculty and student body comprised of foreign nationals from all over the world, the University has achieved a truly international campus environment of cultural coexistence. APU has been one of the biggest sponsors of Hope to the Future Association since 2013.

Cooperation Organization Group Programmes Unit, Visitors Services, United Nations Department of Global Communication Hope to the Future Association has acquired the status of an ‘Associated NGO with the United Nations Department of Global Communication’.

https://visit.un.org/

With kind cooperation and support of the DGC Group Programmes Unit, HFA is able to organize a diversified and a high-quality UN Training curriculum the Korean Youth every year. The Visitor Centre provides UN Expert briefings and guided tours to the visitors from around the world.

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â“’ HOPE TO THE FUTURE ASSOCIATION 2019. All Rights Reserved. All images included in this report are copyrighted to Hope to the Future Association, except for particular images noted with references on the pages. Materials can be freely used for informational purposes only.

Produced by the Education Program Department Production Director : Jung A Chelsea Pyun (chelsea@hopetofuture.org)

Publish Date

1 September, 2019

Publisher

Hope to the Future Association

Address

4F Dana Bldg, Bongeunsa-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea 06125

Telephone

+82-2-6952-1616

Fax

+82-2-538-5928

Website

www.hopetofuture.org

Facebook

www.facebook.com/hopetothefuture

Email

webmaster@hopetofuture.org

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