Historical SPEC-POL

PAN-AMERICAN MODEL
UNITED NATIONS 2015
Historical SPEC-POL
The Korean War 1950-1953

Dear Delegates,

Historical SPEC-POL

I would like to welcome you to this years Pan-American School MUN, my

name is Alessandro Zoffoli and I will be serving as your committee director for the
2015 PAS-MUN. As co-chair carrying out the committee, will be Sofia Perez. As
far as experience concerns, Sofia and I, both have over 5 years of experience,
thus we have pioneering background knowledge on MUN in general. We are
deeply aware of the hard work that must be put in by the delegates, and the chairs
in order to maintain fluidity and audacity during the debate. I hope you find this
topic and committee exceptionally interesting and that we attain to reach flawless
resolutions to these existing and worrying complications.
This council will be a Historical SPEC-POL set in the 1950s. We will be
discussing the North and South Korean War. SPEC-POL councils have been held
previously in PAS-MUNs and other schools, and have proved to be worthy
committees in which singularly satisfactory solutions have been reached. The
council will allow us to see the existing problems that are present around the world,
and also how these have an important effect on peoples lives, specifically North
and South Korean individuals and evolving world powers. Here settles an
opportunity to learn about global matters, and foreseeable wars, how dangerous
can it truly be? I am certain the debate will be fluent and will comply with justified
arguments.
Finally, in order to respect all requirements for this council, we highly
endorse you delegates to not only study the information package we have
prepared for you, but also perform deep research yourselves. It is also imperative
to remember the fact that this council is historical and will be set post WWII,
specifically the 1950s. As it is accustomed, we will most definitely grant the Best
Delegate and Honorable Mention awards, aimed for the most preeminent
delegates to get the most out of this MUN. Feel free to contact us for any questions
or comments at any time via our emails, and dont forget to submit your position
papers before the due date.
Good Luck!
Kind regards,
Alessandro Zoffoli
Chair
alessandro.zoffoli@panam.ed.cr

Sofia Perez
Co-Chair
sofia.perez@panam.ed.cr

Introduction

Historical SPEC-POL

In this conference you will debate

about the war that took place in the
border of North and South Korea
during 1950s. We will travel back in
time and act as mature countries to
find a solution to this issue that
affected the lives of 54 000 soldiers.
Long before World War II began, the
ethnic, political and cultural tension
between the majority of North and
South
Koreans
affected
the
countries. Even though they spoke
the same language and followed
similar traditions, different factors
changed their relationship from
stable to catastrophic. Yet, nothing
major occurred until the Soviet Union
entered war against Japan. The
Soviets sent thousands of troops to
what at the time was Japaneseoccupied Korea. To prevent further
spread of communism to this
country, American troops took
presence in the Korean Peninsula.
The presence of these two rival
countries meant a rapidly emerging
disaffiliation between the south and
north of Korea. This partition began
to resemble the divided Germany.
The north of Korea was very
influenced by communism owing to
the fact that the Soviets were in
control and that China was now
communist. On the other hand, the
southern portion of Korea, had been
singularly
influenced
by
the
presence of American troops.
The United Nations was getting fully
involved in the matters and
immediately recommended
the
implementation
of
democratic

election. Nevertheless, the North

refused to participate, on the other
hand, the South elected Syngman
Rhee as president, while the Sovietbacked North was ruled by Kim Il
Sung. When the United States (US)
withdrew its forces from the
peninsula, trouble began.
When the US military was withdrawn
from the peninsula, the North Korean
military crossed the 38th parallel,
which is where the border of South
and North Korea is. President Harry
S. Truman, who was the sitting
president at the time, promised
unwavering military and financial
support to South Korea. President
Trumans goal was to achieve an
alliance
for
combined
action
between world powers to fight
against North Korea and the Soviet
Union.
The
communist-backed
northern forces reeled in retreat
when General Douglas MacArthur
launched an amphibious attack. The
Americans pushed the northern
troops to the 38th Parallel and further
on.

History of the Committee

The
Special
Political
and
Decolonization
Committee
(SPECPOL), originally the Special
Committee on Decolonization, is the
Fourth Committee of the General
Assembly. This committee has been
integral
in
promoting
social,
economic, political and educational
progress in the Territories, to assist in
developing appropriate forms of selfgovernment and to take into account
the political aspirations and stages of
development and advancement of
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Historical SPEC-POL

each
Territory.
One
cannot
underestimate
the
role
that
SPECPOL has played: since the
inception of the UN, more than 80
former
colonies
have
gained
independence. SPECPOL, through
its numerous resolutions and debate,
has promoted the self-determination
of states and decolonization efforts.
Indeed, in 1960, the Declaration on
the Granting of Independence to
Colonial Countries and Peoples
stated that all people have a right to
self-determination and proclaimed
that colonialism should be brought to
a speedy and unconditional end.
History of the Problem

In the course of this span of time, the

Cold War began to shape as a quarrel
between two very strong ideologies
that were having an impact on the
entire world. These ideologies being
capitalism versus communism. This,
in turn, meant that the Cold War was
no longer a struggle between the
United States and Europe, now all of
the countries were involved. During
the decade of 1950, the United
Nations (UN) began to grow and with
it, its military. Hence, the United
Nations got to a position in which they
could take military action. As states
started becoming independent and
new countries were created, the
United Nations had the responsibility
of guiding them into a particular
ideology. The foremost alternatives
for
ideologies
were
Western
(capitalist,) Communist or the recent
Non-Aligned
Movement.
Furthermore, China was manifesting
once again as a major economic and
political power, becoming a great

global influence. In the 1940s, most

of the geographic focal point of the
Cold War was Europe and the military
focal point was nuclear weaponry.
Yet, in 1950 this position changed
greatly as the war turned its sights to
Asia and mainstream weaponry with
the Korean War beginning.
Korea
was seized by Japan in the year 1910.
When Japan surrendered to the
United States, great dispute was seen
on how this independent country
would be administered. It is important
to remark that Korea had disputes
over resource accessibility since the
1800s. When the Yalta Conference
took place in 1945, the United States,
Great Britain, and the Soviet Union
(USSR) decided that Korea had to be
divided at the 38th parallel until the
country was mature enough for
political independence. The US
occupied the southern half of Korea
while the USSR occupied the
northern region. Once the US and the
USSR were situated in Korea, mainly
because of the non-fulfillment to
maintain free elections, the country
found itself with two very distinct
governments. In 1948, in the northern
part of Korea, the USSR announced
the creation of the Democratic
Peoples Republic of North Korea,
while at the south the United States
responded with the creation of the
Republic of Korea.
North Korea and South Korea
established a communist and rightwing government respectively, which
caused tensions between the two
regions to escalate. While in North
Korea Kim II-sung became the leader
under the guardianship of the Soviet
Union; on the other hand in South
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Historical SPEC-POL

Korea, the USA was attempting to get

Syngman Rhee to power. North
Korea maintained connections with
China and the Soviet Union, while
South Korea with the USA. This made
it evident that elections to unify the
country under the same political
regime were impossible, thus the
USA started evacuating their troops.
This left South Korea alone and their
defense was up to their military. Kim
II-sung saw the opportunity of
invading the south to rule all of Korea.
He encouraged Stalin to agree and
aid him in the acts. Public
announcements made by US officials
made Stalin believe that the USA
wanted no involvement with Korea
and they would not intervene in the
event of an invasion. Finally in 1950,
Joseph Stalin gave authorization for
Kim II-sung to invade South Korea,
and in June 25 of that same year,
North Korean forces crossed the 38th
parallel and within one week they
controlled most of the country.
Statement of the Problem
The aforementioned attack made by
North Korea to South Korea came to
the US as immensely surprising. The
immediate actions taken by the US
were to take the matter in subject to
the
United
Nations,
amongst
extensive debate, their decision was
to take military action against North
Korean troops based in the peninsula.
Although a total of 15 countries sent
troops, most of them were American.
The attack was led by General
Douglas MacArthur. The attack was
intensely risky, but it proved to be very
effective. The UN troops were
launched with an amphibious attack

at the Inchon Port, near Seoul.

Stalins and Kims predictions were
proved wrong. In a matter of months,
thanks to the intelligent tactic, the
troops had taken control over all of
South Korea and had cornered the
North Korean armies up to the Yalu
River, in the Korean border with
China.
Problems
escalated
immensely when the UN forces
crossed the 38th parallel. The war
was deeply questioned as many
thought that the UN forces should not
have crossed the 38th parallel as they
were committing an identical violation
of sovereignty. General MacArthur
insisted on invading mainland China
as a measure of caution, to which
President Harry S. Truman opposed.
China quickly foresaw the situation as
a perfect excuse to launch a counterattack. Chinese volunteers, mainly
farmers, performed a surprise attack
against the forces in the border.
Slowly the situation of the battle lines
in the 38th parallel stabilized. From
1951 to 1953 the countries fought in
some occasions at the same time that
the countries debated over a cease
fire and the return of prisoners of war.
It was kept a secret by the USSR and
the US that there was in fact direct
engagement between US and USSR
aircraft.
The
USSR
publicly
proclaimed their neutrality over the
events but it seemed very lucid that
they would not accept a defeat in
Korea. The end of the Korean War
was in March 1953, when Korea was
no longer of crucial importance to the
USSR. On the 27 of July 1953, all the
participating entities but South Korea
signed a cease fire and agreed to
keep the division at the 38th parallel.

Historical SPEC-POL

The consequences brought by this

war were alarming. The Korean War
was the first significant quarrel of the
Cold War. There was a noticeable
human, social, economic and political
cost for this war. The impact on the
South and North Korea was
enormous. There was an immense
number of casualties, in fact 10% of
the entire Korean population was
disclosed as either killed, wounded or
missing. This in turn caused for the
population in the North declined from
9 million people to an estimated of 7
million. The separation of Korea
negatively affected the development
and growth. Even though both China
and Russia partially left communism
behind, North Korea preserves a
communist dictatorship with a very
low standard of living. South Korea
on the other hand developed a
democratic and capitalist regime in
which the country has seen itself
benefit.

Bloc Positions
North Korea: Economically and
militarily supported by the USSR.
Remains in a state of war that
continues to leave thousands of dead
individuals and destroyed homes.
There is also an immense amount of
refugees. The adopted communistdictatorship government leaves a
very low standard of living. The
separation of the Korean peninsula
also leaves the entire country with
virtually half of the economic means
to drive the country.
South Korea: Completely supported
by the US. Social polls made by the

US estimate that around one million

South Koreans were killed or went
missing in the conflict during the
aforementioned attacks, 85% of them
civilians. Economically, about 80% of
the industrial and governmental
belongings such as transportation
and
infrastructure,
are
being
destroyed (Hafidz Bakimi Bin Haron,
Advocate and Solicitor-High Court of
Malaya, Feb 2010). Initially, South
Korea struggled, but the adoption of a
democratic form of government
allowed rapid growth. The separation
of the Korean peninsula also leaves
the entire country with virtually half of
the economic means to drive the
country, but South Koreas economy
is much more advanced in
comparison to that of the North.

China: China is under pressure as

General
Douglas
MacArthur
suggested an attack on China in aims
to prevent the further spread of
communism as the government is
now communist. China is becoming a
major economic and political power,
making it a great global influence.
Furthermore, Chinese farmers are
attacking UN forces as a preemptive
measure, driving the army down
south. Chinas position is fairly
evident as leader Mao Zedong is
providing a large amount of
volunteers to defeat the UN army.
Japan: The political instability is
rising with the threat of a communist
revolution as influence coming from
left-wing activities in North Korea.
The US has thoroughly supported
and guided Japan into undermining
the presence of communist forces by
the establishment of the Reserved
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Historical SPEC-POL

Police with the purpose of returning

the political stability. There is also
great intent of bringing Japan back
into the global economic scheme. To
do this with the help of the US, the
Treaty of San Francisco is in
negotiations. Lastly, the economy has
seen itself abundantly benefited by
the selling of supplies to the US.

United States of America: Greatly

supports South Korea economically
and financially after they agreed with
the Soviet Union to divide the Korean
Peninsula at the 38th parallel. The
main repercussions this war is having
on the United States is both economic
and army quantity wise. At this time,
military spending has been doubled;
specifically, the military budget is now
$50 Billion. As far as human deaths,
there were 33,651 Americans deaths
in combat, and 103,284 wounded
(Hafidz Bakimi Bin Haron, Advocate
and Solicitor-High Court of Malaya,
Feb 2010). Also, the fear of
communism in the US is climbing
greatly. The appearance of the
McCarthyism phenomenon, in which
the population believes that there is a
plot of communism in the US has
arisen to existence.
Soviet Union: Greatly supports North
Korea economically and financially
after they agreed with the United
States to divide the Korean Peninsula
at the 38th parallel. The political
situation in Russia is tremendously
precarious owing to the fact that the
aims to unify the Korean Peninsula
under a communist regime have
failed. Military spending for the Soviet
Union has and is also escalating.
Their expansion of communism in

Japan virtually failed as the war

blistered the peace negotiations
between the United States and
Japan.
Relevant

A c t i o n s by t h e
U n i t e d Nations

The growth the UN during this period

of time allowed the organization to
have an immensely deeper effect on
the actions taken to resolve the
conflict. The initial suggested solution
was proposed in 1947, when the UN
called for free, democratic elections
throughout the Korean Peninsula.
This was impossible as the influence
of the USSR on North Korea biased
that country into deciding the
population would not be allowed to
such freedoms. As a response, the
UN passed various anti-communism
policies.
Evidently the UN took an
approach that downright supported
South Korea and the US. The failing
of North Korea to comply with the
resolutions, culminated in the
following resolutions:

Resolution 82: demanded an

end to the North Korean invasion to
South Korea.

Resolution 84: stated the

invasion of South Korea as a violation
of peace and implored UN members
to supply assistance to South Korea.

Resolution 85: provided the

General Douglas MacArthur full
authorization to support the Korean
Population militarily.
Possible Solutions
Even after all the aforementioned
resolutions were placed, a true final
solution to the conflict has not been
7

Historical SPEC-POL

agreed upon. The UN and its

members did make an intent to
negotiate but no country agreed to the
other countries terms and conditions.
More specifically:
North Korean
officials and Joseph Stalin, have been
presented with various scenarios to
end the conflict however none were
accepted. There have been several
suggestions, but formally proposed
solutions have been scarce. The most
prominent one is the unification of
North and South Korea, this would in
theory and most likely end with all
tensions between both of the
countries. Still, in the occasion of the
implementation of this final resolution
there would have to be strong
structuring and lawful guidance and
supervision in order to prevent further
disputes. Another proposed solution
is the dismantling of the demilitarized
zone at the 38th parallel, once again
to aid in reducing tensions. This
solution has been greatly criticized as
it would leave the countries
exceptionally vulnerable to one
another.
Questions our Council Must
Answer
1.
What would have been the
result if the Korean peninsula was
merged into one country?
2.
Under what terms would the
United States and the USSR have
settled on a concrete agreement to
peacefully end the war?
3.
How can we relate the issues
discussed in the committee with the
UN Security Council to develop a

solution
focusing
on
Korea's
population and their safety?
4.
How do North and South
Korea react to the constant threat of
each country?
5.
What policies does your
country implement to combat either
capitalism or communism in North
Korea and South Korea and their
influence on other countries?
Bibliography
1. Magaa, A. (n.d.). UCIMUN
2014 - Historical Security
Council. Retrieved September
9,
2015,
from http://www.socsci.uci.edu
/mun/webdocs/Topic14/HSC
Korean War.pdf
2. Korean War. (n.d.). Retrieved
September 9, 2015, from
http://www.history.com/topics/
korean-war
3. Bin Haron, H. (2013, February
10). Topic 4 the consequences
of the korean war. Retrieved
September 9, 2015, from
http://www.slideshare.net/Hafi
dzHaron/topic-4-theconsequences-of-the-koreanwar-16448842
4. Gamage, M. (2013, July 16).
Impact of the korean war.
Retrieved September 9, 2015,
from
http://www.academia.edu/427
6713/Impact_of_the_korean_
war

Historical SPEC-POL

5. 'Impact of the War', URL:

http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/wa
r/korean-war/impact, (Ministry
for Culture and Heritage),
updated 29-Aug-2014

6. Speer, J. (2010, November

30). Solution to Korean
Conflict. Retrieved September
9,
2015,
from http://www.grass-rootspress.com/2010/11/30/solutio
n-to-korean-conflict/

18. Pakistan
19. Egypt
20. Israel
21. Cuba
22. Chile
23. Denmark
24. Nicaragua
25. Venezuela
26. Sweden
27. Argentina
28. Belgium
29. Yemen
30. Indonesia

7. Barry, M. (2013, April 8).

Peace Treaty: The Only
Solution to the Korean
Problem | World Policy
Institute. Retrieved September
9,
2015,
from http://www.worldpolicy.or
g/blog/2013/04/08/peacetreaty-only-solution-koreanproblem

Delegations
1. North Korea
2. South Korea
3. USA
4. United Kingdom
5. China
6. Soviet Union
7. India
8. Australia
9. Iran
10. Iraq
11. Brazil
12. Belarus
13. Czechoslovakia
14. France
15. Ukraine
16. Yugoslavia
17. Afghanistan
9