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Dear Delegates,
With sincere pleasure I welcome you to the East Asia Summit of WorldMUN 2012, Vancouver. My name isJaymin Kim and I am thrilled to serve you as Chair.
I am a junior living in fair Eliot House, concentrating in Social Studies with a language citation in French. I am devoted to questioning, discussing, and raising awareness about international issues and conflicts. My passion for international relations derives from my life experiences. I grew up in Korea, spent most of my life in New Zealand, and finished high school in Canada, and thus have been exposed to numerous cultures and societies. When I am not immersed in Harvard WorldMUN, Harvard National Model United Nations, and Harvard Model United Nations, I am also an enthusiast for parliamentary debating, and have served as the Vice President, Finance in the Harvard Speech and Parliamentary Debate Society for two years. I enjoy twentieth-century literature, exotic fruits and cheese, and writing. I also love traveling, exploring, and discovering.
We will be adventuring into the East Asian Summit together as we resolve to understand and explore the issues of East Asian economic integration and international security. It is an especially interesting time for the East Asian Summit member states as the membership recently increased from 16 to 18 states, with the addition of Russia and the United States. I have strived to provide topics that will genuinely provoke much debate and discussion not only about critical events affecting East Asia today, but also about the capacity and responsibility of the East Asian Summit as only one regional body created for cooperative discourse on economic and security related issues amongst many in East Asia. Our purpose is to reflect on the unique characteristics of the region based on its history and project our understandings into recommendations for the future.
As you prepare for this most exciting conference, I encourage you to direct any questions you may have to me at jaymin.kim@gmail.com. I look forward to meeting you in person and conducting four unforgettably challenging but refreshing days with you with much anticipation.
Sincerely,
Jaymin Kim
Chair of the East Asia Summit
World Model United Nations 2012
eas@worldmun.org
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Topic A: “Connectivity” in Asia
The concept of connectivity is not unfamiliar to Asia. The ancient Silk Road was once the path upon which the languages and cultures of the far reaches of Asia and Europe converged. More recently, the concept of an economically integrated East Asian community has been formally suggested multiple times since the 1990s, and emphatically so upon the economic crisis that hit much of Asia in 1997. But the term “connectivity” has broader and further reaching implications in today’s “globalizing” world, be it from economic, cultural, societal, or political perspectives. What does connectivity mean in Asia today, and what aspects – for example, economic over political or societal over economic – should be considered first and foremost? For what purposes is the concept of connectivity in Asia enthusiastically promoted by many leaders of the region? Is the realization of “connectivity” really a priority for Asia? Is it even desired by all? What form and shape would it assume? And who are the leaders to conceptualize and direct such a formidable plan? How can the East Asian Summit collaborate with and complement regional organizations that have begun to put forth possible plans? Many questions certain to render both theoretical and practical implications have yet to be explored beg to be answered.
Topic B: East Asia and International Security
In October 2010 Russia and the United States successfully joined the East Asian Summit as official members, increasing the membership from a total of 16 to 18 nation states. The two nations seek to place the topic of international security on the agenda at future East Asian Summits. The United States in particular maintains a firm stance on international security issues including but not limited to terrorism, maritime security, and health security. The two nations also are invested in opening discussions on region-specific security issues including those of North Korea’s nuclear programs and their impact on international security. As the East Asian Summit discusses the necessity to assume more prominent roles and hard-line stances on issues affecting international security, delegates are encouraged to observe and analyze the impact the new membership in the Summit has on both the direction of discussion and the interplay between member states in responding to security related issues.