Debating Health and Human Rights Policy in Seoul

Published 09/06/2023 in Scholar Travel Stipend

Written by Mayowa Jolayemi | 09/06/2023

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to travel to Seoul, South Korea, for a Model Congress conference. I was responsible for chairing a mock United Nations committee, the UN Security Council, as we discussed the human rights crisis in Mozambique and how the international community can better improve health outcomes for individuals in times of crisis. I had chaired committees in our Asia-based conference before, but this was the first time I did it in person following the pandemic, and it truly changed my view of mock political conferences and political education internationally.

As I touched down in the Incheon airport, a million thoughts flashed through my mind. I had never been so actively aware of the fact that I was a foreigner. This was a country with a completely different alphabet, culture, history, and that fact was overwhelming. I was most concerned about the conference - would I be able to connect with the students well? Would they like me? Would they care about the material and debates I raised in my briefings? 

My fears were soon assuaged. As the conference kicked off at 8am, the students in my committee promptly filed into the classroom and took their seats, their smiles a small indication of their excitement and eagerness for the upcoming weekend. 

One delegate told me why being in the UN Security Council committee was so important to her. A refugee from Myanmar living in Singapore, she had seen firsthand how pertinent strong immigration policy was, as she was given the opportunity to pursue an education that could empower her to one day mitigate the situation in Myanmar herself. Another delegate from the United States had been living in Seoul for the past two years, ever since his father was stationed there. He brought an interesting perspective to the conference as well, as he had spent most of his life living in vastly different countries and had grown comfortable with the feelings that come with being a foreigner. I bonded with another delegate, born and raised in Seoul, whose main goal was to attend a college in the United States, as I went over possible college essay topics and discussed my favorite college moments with her. Finally, another one of my delegates, who had flown in from the Philippines, and had been in my committee during one of our virtual conferences a year prior, was so excited to finally meet in person. It was a reminder not to take these real, in-person moments for granted, as they were not possible not too long ago. I saw how much he had improved as a delegate and was impressed by his ability to maintain his passion for political advocacy through a global pandemic. 

One thing that truly stood out to me was how much this “mock” conference mattered. To the 30 students in my committee, this was not simply a high school competition to debate meaningless issues. This was their opportunity to present legislation on international issues that they had long cared about, but for which they did not have a platform to advocate. Through each new piece of legislation presented to the UN Security Council, I was reminded of the Milken Scholars mission to foster lifelong leaders for a better world -- I saw that the creation of these lifelong leaders was not dependent on what I personally did alone, but also the work I did with others to inspire and encourage them in their pursuits. 

Moreover, the importance of the conference for the students exemplified to me education’s transformative power. Education was the tool through which these students could affect change in their communities. As they learned more about the functions of the UN and other governing bodies, they were able to create strategies to address refugee crises, provide access to healthcare, and many other pressing issues present in Asia and the rest of the world. By learning about different democratic systems and forms of government, they could understand what worked and did not work to envision better systems for the future. Throughout the weekend, they would stop debate to ask various questions - why a certain law existed, why we used parliamentary procedure to run debate, what powers they could exert as members of the United Nations. They were genuinely curious because this kind of political education could allow them to better advocate for themselves and others in the future. Furthermore, the students participated in the conference as a means of securing better options for higher education in the future, and were curious as to what college was like, how they could best prepare themselves for a university education, and what they could do with a degree. We discussed ways they could continue to explore their interests in public service in college, and they better understood why pursuing higher education was so critical.

Outside of the conference, I also learned quite a bit about life and culture in Seoul. We used public transit to get to the conference each day, and I saw how different Seoul’s system was to that of Boston and New York. For one, the railway moved much faster than any I had used in the US, and it was regularly cleaned and maintained (I mean, it was being cleaned while we rode it every day). Furthermore, the culture surrounding public transportation and being in public generally was also vastly different. People remained quiet on the subway, it was rude to have conversations while there, and people were expected to neatly line up by the entrance. These were some of the many ways they demonstrated respect for others while in public, including strangers.

Additionally, something that really struck me was the culture around food and eating. Many meals we had at restaurants were made to share – it was rare to find a place with individual servings (truly, the only place where I ate an individual meal was a ramen restaurant, where it’s logistically difficult to share food). Most plates came in quantities for 3-6 people, because there was an expectation that you share and enjoy a meal with others. It reminded me of one of my favorite features of the Milken Scholars program, where we are encouraged to have meals with other scholars. Some of my favorite memories come from those meals, and some of my favorite moments in Seoul also revolved around sharing food and communing with others. On our last day in Seoul, a friend and I broke away from the group and went on an exploration of our own. It was a bit daunting as this was the first time we were traveling around Seoul without at least one person who spoke Korean, but we struck out confidently. Our first task was to find a place to eat lunch, which was easier said than done. One of the interesting things about Korea was that they did not use Apple or Google Maps – in fact, programs like Apple’s “Find My” would not work in the country, as it was seen as potentially detrimental to people’s privacy. Instead we used South Korea’s primary map program, Kakao Map. Unfortunately, I had not found the option to use the app in English, so it was written entirely in Korean. We relied mainly on photos and icons (e.g., stars for a restaurant’s review) to pick a restaurant, and intuition and hope to actually find the restaurant. After a few wrong turns, we finally found the restaurant we had set as our destination. However, we were disappointed to find it was closed. Dejected (and hungry), we walked through empty alleys of closed businesses and restaurants, until we smelled a phenomenal scent. We followed it to find a small, hole-in-the-wall, family-owned hotpot restaurant. The owners were themselves eating lunch when we arrived, and they happily welcomed us inside. We did not speak Korean, and the owner did not speak English, but we managed to find a way to communicate, using kindness and love, which I have come to recognize as the universal human language. We used the little Korean we knew to tell him a joke, and he graciously laughed heartily. It was the best meal I had in Korea, mainly because it felt like I was having a meal with family, and that’s something I will always remember.