UN model conference to open today

By Kang Seung-woo

The opening ceremony of the Global Model United Nations (GMUN), with more than 1,200 participants, is scheduled to take place at 3 p.m. Thursday at Songdo Convensia in Incheon, west of Seoul.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to give a keynote address during the ceremony to mark the beginning of the event that runs through Sunday.

The 67-year-old will also speak to some 1,000 local students in a session later in the day.

According to Incheon City officials, one of the three organizers of the meeting, 646 undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 26 from 61 countries will be present, as well as some 100 special guests and press groups.

In addition, around 400 high school students in the city, who were recommended by their schools, will also participate in the conference as observers.

The meeting, established in 2009, is an academic simulation of the United Nations with the purposes of educating participants about current events, topics in international relations, diplomacy and the U.N. agenda.

This year, the students will discuss “Sustainable Development: Advancing Human Progress in Harmony with Nature,” role-playing as delegates representing a member state of the U.N. during its sessions.

The secretariat of the GMUN is comprised of 29 students from 20 countries, with Lee Dong-yeop of Kyung Hee University acting as president.

The administrative department leads the meeting’s general assembly and subcommittees, divided into four sections — disarmament and international security, economy and finance, society and culture, special politics and anti-colonization.

According to the city, the U.N. Department of Public Information accepted applications from students and the participants were picked through a tough screening process.

Thanks to growing interest in the meeting, the number of participants in the Incheon conference will be twice that of the previous meeting.

Participants ordinarily must pay for their own flights and accommodation, but Incheon offered financial support to 10 students who could not afford to cover their own expenses.

The city offered the students free rooms at a dormitory of University of Incheon.

Apart from the meeting, there will be cultural events so that participants from all over the world may enjoy Korean culture.

The first conference was held in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2009, followed by Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last year.