Information Supplement Booklet
Dear delegates, MUN directors and teachers,
It is with great pleasure that I write this welcome note. As the director of Security Council, I would like to welcome all of you to the E MUN conference 2007. The Security Council is the most exciting and vibrant committee in the United Nations and plays an extremely important role in maintaining peace and security in the world. Being a part of the Security Council gives you the power to change the world we are living in.The issues being dealt with by the Security Council are of serious concern and international importance. This year, we focus on the issues on "reforms in the Security Council" and " discontinuing the nuclear weapons program in North Korea." It is important that we work togeather to make the world a better place, and this is your chance to do so.
I assure you that the Security Council will be the right combination of fun and work.Delegates without a sense of humour are requested not to sign up for this committee. I have been taking lessons form the director of HRC on how to crack the lamest jokes.
All The Best,
Jankee Desai,
Director, The Security Council.
P.S. Delegates wearing pink to committee will get special preference from the director.
Topic Area 1: Security Council Reforms.
The Security Council reflects the global power structure of 1945, when most of today's nations were still under colonial rule. In 1965, under pressure from a growing membership, the UN added four new elected members to the Council, bringing its total membership to 15. But the five principal World War II allies clung to their privileged status. They remain "permanent" and have the power to veto any Council decision. This arrangement makes the Council both undemocratic and ineffective. The veto-wielding permanent members (P-5) prevent many issues from reaching the Council's agenda and they often selfishly bar widely-agreed and much-needed initiatives. Despite the ten elected members, the Security Council remains geographically unbalanced and seriously unrepresented.
For more than a decade, the UN General Assembly has debated Council reform but has been unable to reach agreement. At the heart of this stalemate lies a conflict over claims to new permanent Council seats. Germany, Japan, Brazil, India, South Africa, Nigeria and others have demanded this special status and they have won some support for their bid. But the P-5 prefers to keep its own monopoly. And many other states firmly oppose the creation of new permanent seats, insisting that the Council should only be enlarged with new elected members. Other critics -- including GPF -- are concerned that enlargement would make the Council unwieldy and ineffective. They propose regionally-based seats as a future-oriented and more democratic reform. Beyond the vexed issue of membership, reform proposals include changes in the Council's procedures and working methods, such as regular rules of procedure, more public meetings, and other steps to make the Council more transparent and accountable. These reforms are more attainable. Unlike membership changes, they do not require changes in the UN Charter and they can be implemented by a decision of the Council itself. But the P-5 are jealous of their prerogatives and often oppose procedural changes that lessen (however slightly) their special powers. But these changes are vital for the fair functioning of this world organization.
Topic Area 2: Discontinuing the Nuclear Program in North Korea.
On Oct. 16, 2002, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush disclosed that North Korea had admitted to having a program to enrich uranium for use in nuclear weapons. With its admission, North Korea, also known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or DPRK, abrogated the Agreed Framework signed in 1994 with United States, under which the North Koreans agreed to freeze their nuclear weapons program.
On Dec. 10, 2002, North Korea announced it would restart plutonium production and eject the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors who monitored North Korea's compliance with the Agreed Framework. On Jan. 10, North Korea withdrew from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), an international accord prohibiting the acquisition and proliferation of nuclear weapons.
The fuel used in nuclear warheads can come from either uranium enrichment or plutonium reprocessing. North Korea has pursued both tracks. North Korea's uranium enrichment program, were it to continue, could produce highly-enriched uranium sufficient for nuclear weapons in roughly five years, depending on available technology. Prior to acceding to the Agreed Framework, North Korea probably produced enough plutonium for one or two nuclear weapons, although some estimates range to five or six. It is unclear whether North Korea actually produced nuclear weapons with this plutonium. Today intelligence analysts generally agree that North Korea is capable of producing nuclear warheads. The Bush administration holds that North Korea has produced a few weapons, but many experts argue that difficulties in building detonation devices may thus far have prevented the North from finishing their weapons. Resumed nuclear production could give North Korea enough plutonium for a nuclear weapon within a few years.
North Korea's historical animus with the United States drives its nuclear weapons program. Across the 38th parallel, which has divided the Korean peninsula since the Korean War ended in 1953, 37,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea. The United States threatened nuclear attack against both North Korea and China during the Korean War and stored nuclear weapons in South Korean until 1991. The ability to deter a U.S. led invasion and blunt U.S. coercive power is the primary objective of North Korea's nuclear weapons program. North Korea also likely sees its nuclear weapons program as a means to get leverage to extract economic concessions in negotiations with the United States and even its nuclear-armed neighbors, Russia and China. Additionally, North Korea may view nuclear weapons, and particularly the missile systems that complement them, as a valuable export technology. It is necessary for world peace and security that there should be a check on North Korea’s nuclear technology or that North Korea completely discontinues this Nuclear Program.