Topic: Situation in Ukraine
Country: South Korea
Delegate Name: Liam O’Sullivan
School: Fishers High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All South Korea position papers GLIMUN 2014 committees
The Republic of Korea has had interactions with territorial regimes seeking to expand their land through forceful means much as Russia has been doing, and the path we ultimately took led to a war that divided our state. Many people in South Korea sympathize with the state of Ukraine, and we hold the right of self-determination as one of the most important principles of international politics. This right has been tested for our nation throughout history: by the Japanese, Chinese, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea who tried to exert their imperialistic control. That is history, but the conflict in Ukraine that is happening now is a real issue and the result of this debacle may be what separates this generation from the ones that ignited the First and Second World Wars, and the Seven Year’s War even longer before that.
The Russian Federation’s actions in inciting this dispute are to be condemned by the international community, not just in the lives that have already been lost, but by the precedents it sets. Countries around the world should seek to bolster the independence of others, not to absorb them, and Russia’s brazen moves against that statement have recently caused chaos in the streets of Kiev. The humanitarian cost incurred by the conflict is another issue, and South Korea has given significant sums of money to help in that effort. Many people in Ukraine now have very little access to supplies, and this is arguably the largest problem to come of the crisis.
The Republic of Korea urges fellow members of the Security Council to send more peacekeeping forces and resources to keep order and distribute humanitarian efficiently and safely. This should be done with oversight from the Ukrainian government only, with Russia playing as small of a role as possible, in an effort to ease tensions in the conflict. Any further breaches to national sovereignty would do nothing but cause the situation to further deteriorate. There also needs to be more solid infrastructure for dealing with issues of expansionist regimes embodied in the Russian Federation, and no doubt there will be similar situations in more volatile areas as time goes on. Stronger legislation that includes trade incentives to those who respect international boundaries and punitive measure for those who ignore said boundaries.
