Korean Peninsula JCC: South Korea Representatives BC High Model UN XXIX Chair: Daniel Trejo Co-Chair: Mark Metri Letter from the Chair Greetings Delegates, My name is Daniel Trejo, and I am currently a junior at BC High. I have been part of the BC High MUN program since my freshman year, and have been a part of the secretariat for the past two years. In the past two years, I have been part of the crisis staff for the BC High conference, one of those years being the Crisis Director, so this will be my first time being a chair. Outside of MUN, I am part of the Mock Trial team, the Hispanic-Latino Association, and the varsity soccer team. I am excited to chair this committee and hear you all debate about the topic of the Korean War. Although we will not be meeting in person, I still believe we are more than capable of having thoughtful and complex discussions and debates with the resources that we have available. I would also like to remind you all that if you want your position paper to be considered for the Ben Maher Position Paper Award, you should email it to me before the conference begins. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me through email, [email protected] Sincerely, Daniel Trejo 1 Letter From Co-Chair Delegates, My name is Mark Metri, I am a junior at Boston College High school. I have been doing Model UN since I started going to BC High in the 7th Grade. Model UN has added skills and enjoyable times to my experience at BC High. Model UN encourages me to educate myself on issues I previously did not understand, such as the issues we are discussing during the JCC committee. Model UN also grows my debate skills and provides me with an outlet to improve my rhetorical skills and to speak up on issues that matter to me. I encourage each delegate to leave their comfort zones and to speak up when they have something to say. I also encourage you to take your committee seriously, the simulation that we participate in is only as good as we as a committee make it. I am excited to see each and every delegate learn, listen, and speak up. Sincerely, Mark Metri 2 Table of Contents I. Important JCC Information II. History of the Topic III. Committee Positions IV. Guiding Questions V. Works Cited 3 Important JCC Information This committee will be a joint-crisis. By the nature of this style of delegation, the committee will be fast-paced and will operate with directives rather than resolutions. Directives are shorter in length and more targeted and specific with regards to actions than resolutions. They will require a 50% simple majority to pass. Furthermore, 2 sponsors and 3 signatories will be required to present the directive. Therefore, committee pace will be very quick and a lot of directives will be passed on both sides. 4 History of the Topic In the 19th century, countries began to interact with Korea, and attempted to influence its culture. In 1876, Japan first began to pressure Korea to form a diplomatic relationship. This trade with Japan began to weaken Korea’s bonds with China. As a result, China and Russia tried to take more control of the peninsula, but Japan retained control in their victories in the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars. The outcome of these wars is that Korea becomes a protectorate of Japan. In 1910, Japan officially annexed Korea after they tried to resist Japanese control of their foreign relations, military, banking, and communication infrastructure. This annexation involved military occupation and forcing citizens to practice Shintoism. Japan also tried to assimilate Korea by prohibiting the Korean language and Korean family names. After World War I, Koreans, inspired by nationalism and self-determination, began the March First Movement, which was put down by Japan. Korea experienced prevalent poverty due to the economic restrictions and exploitation of natural resources by Japan. Japan was eventually defeated in World War II, and Korea was divided by the 38th parallel. North Korea was controlled by the USSR, while the South was controlled by the US. The United Nations had 5 passed a resolution to hold free elections in both states, but the Soviets ignored this resolution. The North Korea government was created by the Soviets, while in the South, free elections were held, which led to a National Assembly and the Constitution of the Republic of Korea. 6 Current Situation In November of 1947, the United Nations acknowledged Korea’s independence and formed the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea, which would oversee the elections of a National Assembly. The Soviets, however, refused to recognize this resolution and denied their entry into the northern region of Korea. South Korea was now faced with a dilemma: They could either declare independence and become divided from the north or they could delay their elections and independence until the US-Soviet Union conflict was resolved. Syngman Rhee was in favor of holding elections and eventually became head of the National Assembly. The National Assembly created their constitution with four-year term presidents and Rhee won the first election. Shortly after winning the election, the northern, communist region of Korea cut off power to the South, and the Soviets announced their own communist government with Kim Il Sung as leader. In 1949, Kim Il Sung pressured Stalin to invade South Korea, but Stalin was hesitant because the North Korean army was not fully developed and the US could get involved. In June, 1950, North Korea’s army included 150,000-200,000 soldiers, a tank division, and an air force division as well as automatic weapons supplied by the Soviet Union. South Korea, on the other hand, only had a 7 100,000 man army and significantly less artillery and military planes. On June 25, 1950, North Koreans crossed the 38th parallel and reached Seoul by June 28. US President Harry Truman decided not to issue a declaration of war but instead went to the UN for sanction. The UN first denounced the invasion as violating peace between the regions, and then later called for its member states to support the South Korean army. These resolutions could have been vetoed by the Soviet Union, but they were boycotting the UN or not acknowledging the legitimacy of the Communist Party of China. The US became involved in the Korean War because Truman was threatened by the spread of communism. The Soviet Union was becoming more powerful and influential, having detonated their first atomic bomb in 1949 and becoming involved with Greek and Turkish politics. He feared that the Soviets would spread communism through Asia. In fact, in 1949, China had a communist revolution, which exiled the nationalist party, and led to an alliance between the Soviets and the Communist Party of China. 8 Committee Positions 1. Sygnam Rhee - president of the South Korean government 2. General Douglas MacArthur - Commander of the UN army 3. Harry Truman - President of the United States 4. Alben W. Barkley - Vice President of the US 5. Chang Myon - prime minister of the ROK 6. Lee Ki-poong - mayor of Seoul 7. Shin Sung-mo - Minister of National Defense of the ROK 8. Yi Si-yeong - Vice President of South Korea 9. Dean Acheson - US Secretary of State 10. John Muccio - US Ambassador to South Korea 11. Matthew Ridgeway - Commander of the Eight US Army 12. Winston Churchill - Prime minister of the UK 13. Louis St. Laurent - Prime minister of Canada 14. Joseph Pholien - Prime minister of Belgium 15. Robert Menzies - Prime minister of Australia 16. Chung Il-kwon - Commander of the Republic of Korea Army 17. Kim Hong-il - Commander of the South Korean I Corps 18. Shin Hyun-joon - Commander of the ROK Marine Corps 19. Joseph McCarthy - US Senator 20. Sam Rayburn - Speaker of the House of Representatives Guiding Questions 9 1. North Korea has already launched their attacks, so what should the immediate response of the South Koreans be? 2. How can the US and other countries assist the South Koreans in order to prevent the North from completely taking over the region? 3. Is it still possible to solve this issue diplomatically or is violence the answer? 4. What are long term strategies that can help South Korea become more independent, so that they don’t need to rely on the UN or other countries when dealing with this conflict? 10 Works Cited 1. https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297a/The%20Korean%20Peninsula.htm 2. http://countrystudies.us/south-korea/10.htm 3. https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/korean-conflict 4. https://www.history.com/topics/korea/korean-war 11 .