Issuu

ISSUE 3

XXIV

SEOULITE CONTRIBUTORS 2021 Editors-in-Chief

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Katie Lee, Christine Yi

Charlotte Jun, Chelsea Kim, Clair Kang, Grace Lee, Lauren Kim, Lin Chiang, Lindsey Lim, Shinheng Jason Lee, Sophie Choi, Yunseo (Irene) Nam, Rachel Yoon

Managing Editors Aimee Choi, Rosa Suh Copy Editors

Layout

Isabella Kim, Riwon Ahn Layout Editors

Ellen Ryu, Eunice Rhee, Jasmine Cho, Kaylee (Minchae) Kim, Luna Moon, Seojin Park, Yujin Lee,

Yuzine Yi, Claire Kim

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Photo Editors

Alex Cho, Anna Lee, Celine Yang, Chloe Cho, Dana Chung, JK Kim, Kristina Kang, Seoyoon (Kris) Son, Teresa Chang, Yoon Choi

Rachel Lee, Alice Lee

Advisor Ms. Wendy Grant

LETTER FROM THE EICs Dear readers, As editors of Seoulite, the official press publication of SEOMUN, we are honored to serve delegates, chairs, advisors, administrative staff members, directors, and other participants throughout the 24th SEOMUN conference. We hope that all delegates will have the opportunity to gain new insights and engage in fruitful debates on worldly matters. Over the next three days, our team of reporters, photographers, and layout artists will be covering various aspects of SEOMUN—ranging from debates on technological advancements to lighthearted anecdotes from delegates—in our upcoming issues. In the face of the pandemic last year, our Seoulite team managed to successfully publish all four issues amidst the virtual precariousness and physical distance that separated conference participants for the first time. This conference, we will strive to do the same; to collaborate internationally with all delegates, and to weave together the stories of those at SEOMUN once again. With that, we would like to ask the delegates and chairs for three things: First, please take the time to take a look through our daily issues on issuu.com. We promise to fill our pages with diverse and engaging content throughout the conference. Second, please feel free to offer your uncensored personal opinions if a press member approaches you for an interview. Lastly, if a photographer requests that you take a quick photo of yourself via Zoom or email, please spare a few minutes of your time to do so. We would like to include as many delegates as we can in our issues despite having an online conference, and our photographers would greatly appreciate your cooperation! We wish all delegates the best of luck. Happy SEOMUN XXIV! Katie Lee & Christine Yi Editors-in-Chief

JUKEBOX JEWELS

SEOMUN XXIV: ONE LAST RIPPLE OF HOPE As much as MUN can be exhausting and stressful, it is undeniably one of the most exciting experiences one could have in high school. And as of today, SEOMUN XXIV comes to an end; a sense of accomplishment resides with emptiness in the corners of their hearts as they slowly close their resolution documents and prepare for the closing ceremony. The bittersweet feeling lies in the atmosphere of the meeting rooms—just like many artists describe the wistful and heartwarming sentiment of goodbye. Especially for the Class of ‘22 seniors, their last high school MUN conference touches a special part of their hearts.

LAST DANCE - BIGBANG With the temporary disbanding of Bigbang, they depicted the bittersweet feeling of now being free to perform individually, but the sorrows of goodbye. Just like this title, their ‘last dance’ is their last performance, and for MUN senior delegates, today’s SEOMUN XXIV conference is their last dance. The upbeat chords and echoing BGM gives off a happy and heartwarming feeling, yet the sense of loneliness and emptiness is still present. That’s what MUN delegates feel—on the surface, satisfaction and pride, but deep-down, sad to think this will be the last for a while.

STILL NEW YORK - MAX SCHNEIDER “Still New York” by Max Schneider and Joey Bada$$ reflects their goodbye for their hometown New York, how their hearts will be in New York forever. The rundown subway stations and dirty walls of New York, what people may call ghetto, are what they miss the most about their childhood city. MUN, for many, is one of the special places they’ve set foot in since middle school. From what senior delegates say, high school MUN has its flaws, being unorganized and chaotic at times, but that’s what they’ll miss the most. Just like the song, the ‘best nights of [their lives]’ came from nights spent with fellow delegates preparing and hoping for another successful conference.

JUST LIKE THIS - LOCO

Written by Isabella Kim Layout by Ellen Ryu

The epitome of reminiscence and emptiness. Being everyone’s go-to song when you want to stop time and enjoy the moment, this song describes the enjoyment of life as it is in the moment. Delegates sit around the school eating Subway sandwiches with their friends, taking pleasure in the small moments of laughter and peace, knowing that these are the high school moments they’ll reminisce about. The carefree and unrestrained feeling communicates the joys of high school life to everyone, just how the song repeats ‘just like this’ over and over.

STUFF DELEGATES SAY

Layout by Ellen Ryu

GA I

“WHAT WAS THE GA I ZOOM BOMBER CRISIS?”

Je Young Yoo / the President of General Assembly I I felt really concerned about the inappropriate actions of the Zoom bomber in the committee room on the first day. On the second day, when they entered, I immediately tried kicking them out for the sake of the committee, but the situation ultimately became extremely amusing when they left in anger after our committee pranked them. All in all, I will look back on this moment fondly as something that brought the committee closer together while breaking the monotony MUN procedures can go into.

Karan Singh Madia / the Assistant President of General Assembly I The Zoom bomber started playing inappropriate videos at a really high volume. Basically they joined as ‘USA,’ started playing adult videos out loud, and then left. After this, they joined the next day, but were caught. When they were pranked by our committee when we were telling them to justify their actions, they called us all ‘dumba**’ and left.

Jay Choe / the Delegate of the Russian Federation On both days, the Zoom bomber’s name was the Delegate of the USA, and so we could tell that it was the Zoom bomber. On the second day, we decided to have some fun by calling on the Zoom bomber and asking for a speech. Then, I think he got mad and said ‘your ***** fat’ and left.

Bin Ma / the Deputy Assistant President of General Assembly I

After the intruder had joined, I kept calling on the intruder and had delegates make ‘speeches’ condemning ‘the USA,’ which was the username that the intruder was using. After hearing some offense, the house voted on the motion, ‘The expulsion of the USA from the United Nations,’ which passed with 24 delegates voting for, four delegates voting against, and two delegates abstaining.

Written by Sophie Choi Photo(s) by Alex Cho Layout by Yuzine Yi

GA II

“WHAT MOVIE DOES GA II REPRESENT?”

Avi Kabra / the President of General Assembly II The General Assembly II committee is best represented by ‘World War Z.’ Over the course of the past few days, delegates have engaged in allout wars to protect their country’s interests. In the end, however, all countries united to combat Kim Jong Un’s egregious condemnation of Ethiopia.

Hahuel Herz / the Assistant President of General Assemby II I choose ‘World War Z’ to be the movie that represents our committee for several reasons. First of all, our committee seems to be composed of amendmentsubmitting zombies, as the amendments never stop coming in, giving me hand cramps having to write them all down. Our committee, like in the movie, also seems to have safe spaces where there is calm for the chairs, though this calm and order is quickly lost as delegates become passionate to debate again.

Shwe Thone Diri / the Deputy Assistant President of General Assembly II ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ represents GA II. The film is based on a father who fights for the financial and emotional stability of his family. In accordance with the film, GA II focuses on the pioneering of a stable financial stance, as well as the promotion of stability in all areas.

Fasih Ali / Delegate of Cuba That’s a hard one. I would say the ‘Fast and Furious’ series represents GA II because there is so much going on, but nobody knows what’s going on; I would simply say it was an experience of chaos. All delegates have been throwing curveballs, and it’s been nothing but an emotional rollercoaster.

Written by Lindsey Lim Photo(s) by Anna Lee Layout by Yuzine Yi

GAIII

WHAT VIDEO GAME DOES YOUR COMITTEE REPRESENT? Katherine Suk / the President of GA III

I would say Tetris because there are many delegates (symbolized as the multiple Tetris blocks), but they all merge together well and become a unified whole, coming to an amazing consensus!

Minwoo David Lee / the Assistant President of GA III I believe that the best video game to express our committee is Hollow Knight. While our committee looks simple on the surface, the speeches, amendments, and POIs make our committee very elaborate and enjoyable. This is similar to how Hollow Knight looks simple, but the art style, game mechanics, and the music complement each other to make a truly in-depth experience.

Minjun Shin / the Deputy Assistant President of GA III I think it must be Tetris. Every delegate has distinctive characteristics just like Tetris blocks, but at the end of the day, they compromise to fit one another to complete one big chunk of blocks.

Yoonseo Kim / the Delegate of Republic of Korea

I believe that our committee is Fortnite, because, since it’s GA III, it is messy; many delegates are new, and sometimes I do not know what other delegates are doing.

Written by Lin Chiang Photo(s) by Kris Son Layout by Jasmine Cho

ECOSOC

WHAT WAS THE FUNNIEST MOMENT IN YOUR CONFERENCE? Bryan Kwon / the President of ECOSOC There’s two for me. First, someone accidentally unmuted their mic and said loudly ‘I want a Chocopie.’ And secondly, our Assistant President, Dylan became a swing delegate and got overly passionate as the delegate of Vietnam, trash-talking all nations specifically within the Economic and Social Council.

Dylan Chamberlin / the Assistant President of ECOSOC The delegate of Australia was extremely confused as to why the house was debating a resolution to combat climate change since climate change does not exist.

Katie Kim / the Deputy Assistant President of ECOSOC While I was chairing, the Assistant President and President attempted to spice things up by taking on the roles of the delegate of Vietnam and the delegate of Australia, respectively. The Assistant President and the delegates ended up debating about the ethics behind the fake shoe market in Vietnam.

Leo Byun / the Delegate of Iraq The funniest moment for the conference, at least for me, was during the drafting of our resolutions. A delegate (whom I cannot say the name of ) made a clause regarding the reduction of carbon emissions from food companies such as McDonald’s and KFC, which we, the drafters, were almost going to add until the final resolution for comedy until the president advised against it.

Written by Clair Kang Photo(s) by JK Kim Layout by Jasmine Cho

“WHAT SUPERPOWER DOES SECURITY COUNCIL REPRESENT?” Renee Phan / the President of SC

I would say superspeed! Our committee is able to make rapid fire POIs whenever we have time constraints, since we debate clause by clause.

Sean Kim / the Assistant President of SC “I think the Security Council represents invincibility, because we have the most power out of all the committees. It even has the power to place sanctions, a unique perk of the Security Council!”

Sarah Ju / the Deputy Assistant President of SC I think the Security Council represents invisibility, because so many amendments and clauses are overlooked. Other nations seem much less significant to the advancement of resolutions, because they have the almighty power of the veto. It’s definitely very interesting to watch the debate unfold: the dynamics between the “invisible” nations and the ever-soprevalent P5 nations is quite something.

Jason Baek / the Delegate of the USA

I think we represent telekinesis, because we can cause an entire troop to be deployed in regions of crisis from a single resolution demanding that.

Written by Jason Lee Photo(s) by Chloe Cho Layout by Claire Kim

HSC

“WHAT BRAND DOES HSC REPRESENT?” Alex Taehoon Kim, the President of Historical Security Council I’d say the Historical Security Council represents the Lego company because all of our delegates come together to form a great committee. Before, I was going to say Volkswagen because we are a bunch of Ws, but then I realised they are Vs not Ws.

Glenn Lee, the Assistant President of Historical Security Council I would say we’re like McDonalds because we’re just consistently reliable. Everyone is just so supportive of each other, and we haven’t had any fights or big arguments; it’s mostly a lot of agreement. In other words, the HSC is the good average reliable committee.

Ian Kim / the Deputy Assistant President of Historical Security Council I think that HSC represents the brand Coca Cola, or other brands that have been around for a while, but still are able to maintain a good reputation and image. The committee is unique, and we are rapidly adapting to the crises at hand just like trends.

Aow Si Li, Sara / the Delegate of Libya I think it would be some kind of fast food or fastfashion brand like McDonalds or H&M since the HSC is super super fast-paced! Even though it is quite fast, I think HSC is a very fun and fruitful committee. It’s old but gold.

Written by Charlotte Sehee jun Photo(s) by Dana Chung Layout by Claire Kim

WHA

“WHAT COLOUR DOES YOUR COMMITTEE REPRESENT?” Andrew Choi / the President of World Health Association We chose the color gray to represent our committee. The chairs believe that everyone in our committee has a unique color representing themselves: green, blue, or turquoise, just expressing who they are and what they believe. If we blend those colors, we get the color gray. Therefore, this year’s WHA falls under the color gray, where everyone works together and is part of a team.

Michelle Heo / the Assistant President of World Health Association I would say red because our committee was really aggressive in terms of amendments. One third of the amendments submitted for every agenda were to strike entire clauses, which is a very extreme approach. The actual debate was pretty very peaceful, but I think our delegates were actually on the lookout to strike whatever they deemed unnecessary in the resolution.

Sieun Park / the Deputy Assistant President of World Health Association Gray: Every delegate in our committee had their specific color, and not a single delegate stood out among the others. We’re a perfect blend since every delegate has their own unique stance on the issues and made several good points throughout the debate.

Hsu Yadanar Htoo / the delegate of Spain

I would say the color of our committee would be blue. I think everyone on this committee is very calm and serene when it comes to debates. They’re all extremely diplomatic in every situation too! Whenever there are disagreements to amendments or speeches, there is no such thing as the discussion becoming heated.

Written by Irene Nam Photo(s) by Alex Cho Layout by Kaylee Kim

UNHCR

“WHAT SEASON DOES YOUR COMMITTEE REPRESENT?” Joanne Lee / the President of UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees would represent summer! With over four resolutions, 40 amendments, and 300 speeches and POIs, the debate is always heated and full of energy. You can feel the intensity of the debate from across the screen and the temperature rising like any hot summer day!

Sunny Lee / the Assistant President of UNHCR I would say our committee represents winter in Korea because although there are ups and downs in the weather, the holiday season brings everyone together like how the debate session brings people from all sorts of backgrounds together to accomplish a common goal.

Daniel Shin, the Deputy Assistant President of UNHCR UNHCR represents summer since the committee is full of heated discussions. Delegates are constantly challenging one another’s ideas and are oftentimes in conflict. Just like how summer is associated with having an extremely long daytime, delegates in the committee debate for hours, making the day feel pretty long. Furthermore, similar to how there is a variety of plants during the summertime, there is a diverse number of perspectives within the committee.

Eddie Chu / Delegate of the United States Our committee represents winter as there are both positive and negative sides to it. The debates in the UNHCR are intense and passionate. Just like winter, this committee can at times be cold with no real solutions being passed. But at the same time, just like the beauties of winter, such as snow, this committee has the potential to come up with the most ingenious ideas to aid these refugees to prosper as a part of society once again.

Written by Clair Kang Photo(s) by Kristina Kang Layout by Kaylee Kim

CSW

“WHAT GONGCHA MENU DOES CSW REPRESENT?” Hannah Kim / the President of CSW The Commission on the Status of Women represents a cup of grapefruit honey black tea. We had a really rough start, and there were many delegates not participating at all. This represents the odd first taste of this drink; still, as the debate progressed, we found many first-timers attempting speeches for the first time. This represents the sweeter aftertaste of the drink—hopefully, the participation for the last day will live up to the popularity of this drink!

Jae Hyeok Choi / the Assistant President of CSW

I would describe my committee as black coffee. Our committee was a little dry and boring as we began, but it became more entertaining and fun as we continued our debate. Also, just like how black coffee prevents us from falling asleep, our committee helped me to stay awake despite waking up at 7 am every day.

Myint Myat Theingi / the Delegate of the United Kingdom

Written by Lauren Kim Photo(s) by Kris Son Layout by Seojin Park

I would describe CSW as a matcha smoothie because although it sounds simple and not very visually appealing, as you start drinking it, you feel the refreshing and cooling sensation of the smoothie. The first and second days were a little awkward and seemed very quiet, but with the last day, everyone is feeling motivated and active in a way because the committee members got more close to one other.

HRC

“HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE HRC IN ONE WORD?” Emily Sung / the President Human of Rights Council Enthusiastic: Numerically, we have 96 POIs at the moment and over 300 tallies from delegates. But aside from the numbers, just the spirit in this room is so driven to reach the best solutions for such pressing world issues, and everyone is so motivated that the debate has not seen a second of silence. The passion of these delegates for debating on world affairs is simply amazing.

Jordan Kim / the Assistant President of Human Rights Council Vibrant: Throughout the three days of the conference, not once has there been a long period of silence within the committee. All delegates that take the floor to deliver a speech are passionate and are not afraid to stand by their country’s stance. Every speech is followed by a flood of delegates wishing to ask a POI. The fact that it is not just a few delegates but a great majority of the delegates that are participating has made this year’s Human Rights Council one of the best that I have ever seen throughout my MUN career.

Arav Sethi / the Deputy Assistant President of Human Rights Council Engaging: I think the delegates here raise really good points and challenge each other by asking really thorough questions and making speeches. It helps expand the conversation and introduce various stances, which makes the debate really engaging and fun.

Ian Park / the Delegate of Iran Active: I would describe my committee as active. Throughout the discussions and debates, I found that all delegates were eager to improve the whole resolution. Not only that, but delegates were really willing to support their positions, which made the debate fruitful and diverse.

Written by Irene Nam Photo(s) by Yoon Choi Layout by Seojin Park

SPT

“WHAT FRUIT DOES SPT REPRESENT?” Dong Chae Shin / the President of SPT

The Six Party Talk would be a pineapple since the topics we discuss are vastly sensitive, much like the prickly spikes on a pineapple’s surface.

Katie Yoo / the Assistant President of SPT I would say the SPT represents a passion fruit because it grows under difficult conditions, which is similar to our committee: delegates thrive under pressure while being passionate about their stances/debate.

Jayden Choe / the Delegate of China I’d like to characterize the SPT as an orange; there are many slices of the orange, just like there are many different opinions in the SPT on issues like the ones we were discussing today. Yet, despite these different opinions, the SPT comes together on many topics to work collectively. An orange requires all the slices to be whole, just as all delegates in the SPT need to vote unanimously for an operative clause to pass.

Zara Burney / the Delegate of the DPRK

To be honest, I have no idea. Maybe the SPT is a pomegranate because there are so many different layers, which is similar to how people in the committee keep on going through the different layers of clauses.

Written by Chelsea Kim Photo(s) by Alex Cho Layout by Yuzine Yi

SPC

“WHAT SPORT DOES SPC REPRESENT?” Joohun Kim / the President of Special Conference I would say soccer, because while there is a lot of tiki-taka (a style of soccer that has a lot of quick back and forth) among our delegates, there are still some distinct teams coming together to achieve their objectives in the resolution.

Wonju Lee / the Assistant President of Special Conference

Football. The delegates of our committee are eager and competitive. Every single one of them is intelligent, assertive, and passionate about MUN.

Grace An / the Deputy Assistant President of Special Conference Our committee can be represented through soccer, where there is presence of both collaborative, yet different, teams. With the wide range of delegations, the delegates, based on their country stances, have been developing small groups of ‘allies’ to support each other’s speeches and amendments. I think that the small groups developed through the countries’ stances have helped delegates collaborate to achieve their goal of passing the resolution, hence assisting in a collaborative, and meaningful debate!

Kayla Lee / Delegate of DPRK SPC represents rugby because everyone in the committee is working towards the same goal to solve world issues, which resembles a team in rugby. Also, since teammates in rugby must plan their plays together to score the goal most efficiently, SPC is the embodiment of this sport as all delegates are drafting a resolution together to achieve their agendas.

Written by Grace Lee Photo(s) by Teresa Chang Layout by Yuzine Yi

ENV

“WHAT ANIMAL DOES YOUR COMMITTEE REPRESENT?” Catherine Lee / the President of Environmental Commission Our committee would represent a butterfly because I feel like within the duration of three days, people developed so much. It is always great to see how delegates escape their cocoon and transform into more confident and experienced members by the end of SEOMUN.

Michelle Bok / the Assistant President of Environmental Commission The Environmental Commission seems to represent a dove. Being true to its reputation of being loyal, friendly, and helpful, ENV orients its attention to tackling the most pressing issues in the environment in a peaceful and conciliatory manner.

Katelyn Oh / the Deputy Assistant President of Environmental Commission I would say that the Environmental Commission is symbolized by a peacock without its tail open yet, because the delegates here have so much potential. I think because it is many delegates’ first conference, some of them are finding it a little difficult to show their full potential. With a bit more confidence and less self-consciousness, many of the delegates could be able to blossom into great delegates.

Beverly Kim / Delegate of Morocco I think that my committee represents parrots because parrots are quite smart and intelligent, just like the members of this committee. And because parrots also have the distinct human characteristics of being able to understand and copy what humans say, our committee has that same brainpower to speak knowledgeably.

Written by Grace Lee Photo(s) by Dana Chung Layout by Yujin Lee

ICJ

“WHO IN YOUR COMMITTEE IS MOST LIKELY TO WIN THE SQUID GAME?” Tae Kyeong Hong / the Deputy Assistant President of Environmental Commission I think that Judge Emily Kim would win with her persuasive speaking skills and cunning abilities. Or the Assistant President Gaurav Goel—he’s too cute to kill so no one would try to hurt him.

Gaurav Goel / the Assistant President of International Court of Justice Well, after simulating the Squid Game games with randomizer sites, Advocate Chaewon Kim and Advocate of India Aim (Natcharee) Chaiwongthitikul were left. Because they were both advocates, I decided to let the verdict of the judges decide the winner. The winner was India, so I would say Advocate Aim would win the Squid Game.

Emily Kim / the Judge of International Court of Justice I think it would be Judge Sen. She’s loud and outspoken and confident with her words. I feel like she would be good at using her wits and also convincing people to not kill her.

Sai Diya Sen / the Judge of International Court of Justice Advocate of Pakistan Chaewon Kim is a good friend and speaker. I have run into Judge Emily Kim previously, and she is also an amazing speaker. Both of them have really strong styles. And Judge Celine Kim, although I have not interacted with her, seems like she’s always on top of her knowledge and evidence.

Written by Rachel Yoon Photo(s) by Anna Lee Layout by Yujin Lee

P H O T O

20 Layout by Luna Moon

D UMP

Layout by Luna Moon

SEOULITE ISSUE 3

XXIV XXIV XXIV