Selected 29 students from 16 universities in Korea and abroad such as New York University to be dispatched to the UN Headquarters in New York in August

Three YU students selected, thus receiving recognition for global capacities

"Want to discuss international issues with experts and working-level staff of different countries to gain experience in international activities"

[July 25, 2017]

Three YU students will be dispatched to the UN headquarters as Korea college student representatives.

The World Federation of United Nations Associations selected the 'UN Headquarters Korean College Student Representatives' and will dispatch them to the UN Headquarters from August 21 to 25. Three YU students were included in the 'UN Headquarters Korean College Student Representatives'.

The YU students are Jung Si-young (25, College of Pharmacy, junior), Yoon Soo-hyun (24, Department of Cultural Anthropology, senior), and Heo Dong-hwa (23, Department of Saemaul Studies and International Development). A total of 29 college students from 16 universities in Korea and abroad such as New York University, Columbia University, Furman University, Korea University, Yonsei University and Hanyang University were selected.

Heo Dong-hwa, who majors in Saemaul Studies and International Development said, "I want to utilize my major and after graduating, work with a non-profit institute or international organization engaged in ODA. I am very excited about this opportunity to go to the UN Headquarters." He added, "I have been interested in the health and medical field ever since I was in high school in the United States. During my visit to the UN Headquarters, I hope to speak with many hands-on workers on the duties and assignments of various fields. Furthermore, I want to come back with a lot of information such as whether it fits the career path I am looking for."

 The representatives are scheduled to group up into teams based on themes such as urban development and sustainable development to collect data and make presentations, and share their opinions with local hands-on workers at the UN Headquarters.

Yoon Soo-hyun stated, "I visited the UN Headquarters during my six month language program in New York. I am preparing a lot despite the fact that it will be short because this is not just a trip or visit, but I am an official representative." She added, "As this is an opportunity to actually experience what happens at international organizations while meeting with people from around the world including UN workers, I will make a lot of preparations and learn as much as possible."

The representatives will learn and experience 'UN's various and specialized structure', 'major agendas', and 'overall understanding and critical thinking on multi-party decision-making procedures' under the theme of 'UN Sustainable Development Goals' that will be the development index of the entire world by 2030, and are anticipated to train their capacities to gain a foothold for international activities.

Jung Si-young, who is also preparing for as a member of the representatives, said, "I applied to join the representatives because I wanted to experience in person what exactly the UN, which is a highly known international organization, does. I feel that my English is not as good as the rest of the representatives so I am concentrating on studying English for now." She added, "I have high expectations as the majors of the other students are diverse and because I will be able to meet with workers from various countries at the UN Headquarters in New York. I hope that I will be able to speak about various international issues with them, hold discussions, and learn and experience the perspectives of various people."