Different tacts to the top of Model Congress
Published: 11 Sep. 2009, 01:53
Kim Ga-hun, a junior at Jeongbal High School, and Yun Tae-jin, a sophomore at Changwon Towol High School, (sitting together at the podium on the left) listen to a presenter on the last day of the Korea International Model Congress, held at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. At right, two judges - professors Cho Yun-young from Chung-Ang University and Lyman McLallen from HUFS - observe. Provided by the organizer
The competition, also known as KIMC, was held for three days in late August at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Dongdaemun, Seoul.
While Hong focused on reaching out to other members, Han - who netted one of two grand prizes - prepared for the contest by scouring English-language newspaper articles every day, giving her insight into some of the more pressing issues in the Western world today. That, in turn, helped her craft a bill that won the admiration of her peers and the judges.
“A committee I was on during the competition handled a social issue focused on a surge in hate crime, which is becoming a problem not only in the United States but also in Korea,” Han said.
Han Ji-yeon, Hong Woo-ram
The event, co-hosted by the IHT-JoongAng Daily and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, drew more than 300 middle and high school students from across the country.
Participants were divided up into one of 11 mock committees: four resembling international organizations such as the World Economic Forum and the World Health Organization; two special committees focusing on combating piracy in Somalia and the situation between Israel and Palestine, respectively; four modeled after the U.S. Congress (two mimicking the Senate and the other two the House); and a cabinet committee.
There were 25 to 30 members on each committee, with one participant chosen to preside over the debate and another picked as a vice leader.
Han took on the role of a senator representing the Democratic Party.
During a series of meetings that stretched from the first day of the event until the morning of the final day, she crafted a bill banning people from discriminating against minorities, the disabled and homosexuals.
Han received applause from members of the committee after she asserted that part of the solution involves rooting out the fundamental problems behind the increase in hate crimes.
Eventually, Han’s proposal was introduced to a full session on the last day, which helped her win the grand prize.
In the plenary session, Han deftly addressed conflicting opinions presented by Republicans who were against the bill.
“One member claimed that the bill could violate the freedom of being able to make hateful remarks,” Han said. “I was puzzled for a second. But I stressed that speaking freely without considering social responsibility could influence all of society in a bad way and that punishment definitely has to be enforced to those who speak with the intention of hatred.
“I was able to convince all members of the committee in the end after speaking about the need for both penalties as well as the need for education on the issue.”
Ultimately, the bill passed in the mock session.
Han, who participated in the event for the first time this year, entered the competition gunning for the top prize: a free trip to a leadership camp for high school students from around the world in Melbourne, Australia.
She even put up a picture of the famous Opera House in Sydney on her desk while preparing for the event.
“I thought someone else was going to get the grand prize because I thought that another contestant did a better job,” Han said. “So I was really surprised to hear my name called as the top prize winner.”
Hong employed an entirely different strategy focused on intense lobbying activity.
Representing Spain in a World Health Organization committee, he reached out to others from the get-go, bringing many participants around to his way of thinking by building upon versions of their bills rather than pushing forward with his own proposal.
In doing so, Hong was able to win backing from representatives who shared the same idea.
Eventually, the WHO committee chose his proposed bill to be discussed in the full session.
“Since I lobbied other representatives with my opinion in advance while I was making the bill, I was able to defend against many different opinions sufficiently,” Hong said. “I received a lot of help from supporting members, and my bill was eventually chosen.”
Hong was singled out by judges as being one of the top two members on the committee.
The event marked Hong’s second KIMC competition.
Hong moved to the United States when he was in middle school and lived there for 18 months. The high school student said he has wanted to become a diplomat representing Korea since that time.
Hong did not hesitate to sign up for KIMC after seeing an advertisement in the newspaper and received plenty of encouragement.
“Most students attending ordinary high schools have relatively poor access to information related to extracurricular activities happening outside of school,” he said. “But my homeroom teacher gave me full support for the competition.”
Hong said that KIMC was a great opportunity for him to meet new friends and gain valuable skills. And he’s already looking ahead to 2010.
“I am planning to try out for next year’s competition,” he said, “and I hope to learn leadership skills by taking the post of full session speaker.”
By Kim Ji-hyuk, Lee Min-yong [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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