Economics major Ariel Gomez, will participate in his last Model United Nations Club event on Thursday, May 16, before transferring to UC Berkley this fall.
The upcoming event will be a simulation of the North Korean nuclear crisis, and will feature the security council of the MUN Club, which is made up of 15 students all representing different countries.
According to Gomez, North Korea has been very combative in terms of acting with its nuclear weapons.
The simulation is scheduled to present the issue between North Korea and the international community, Gomez stated that recently Russia voted to have sanctions on North Korea which has created more tension on the issue.
“It’s an issue that really needs to be addressed, (North Korea) can’t really attack the United States but it could still attack South Korea or Japan.”
Gomez added that it is unlikely North Korean nuclear weapons could actually reach Japan.
The security council of the MUN Club, will come together to create draft resolutions to the issue of North Korea, after
Gomez is representing the Republic of Azerbaijan, which is a country located near western Asia and eastern Europe.
The security council that will be present at the event is made up of 15 people, but according to Gomez a possible number of 12 will attend the event.
Another member of the security council is sociology major Eric Campos, who is in his first semester of the MUN Club and has recently been appointed the director of public relations for the club.
Campos is representing the country of Pakistan and is advocating for North Korea saying it should be allowed the use of nuclear weapons.
“(North Korea) deserves the right to have a nuclear arms race, for protection of course.” Campos said.
Campos stated that throughout the simulation the council will discuss giving the North Koreans the rights they deserve through international law.
Some of the council members will be representing countries that are advocating for more sanctions in North Korea.
Members of the council have had to research the countries they are representing in order to prepare for this simulation event.
“(It’s) a lot of extensive research, especially understanding Pakistan’s policies and understanding the sharia law.
And understanding (the) religious background, especially dealing with (the) sovereignty.” Campos explained about what he had to research.
Gomez hopes that students who attend the event will receive a more diverse knowledge on the subject of the North Korean nuclear crisis.
“Sometimes I hear people say ‘Do you think North Korea is really going to attack us (United States)?’ and it shows just how uninformed they are. It’s already out there and well known that North Korea’s missiles have no capability of hitting us.” Gomez said.
Gomez added that he would also like for students who see the event to realize there are different perspectives of the issue.
Sometimes people often have a misconstrued idea of what North Korea is capable of, because of the media.
“I feel that the media often, media are just sensationalists they’re trying to get money at the end of the day, that’s why they are in business. The corporate media … the news has to catch people’s attention. Even though they usually say something like ‘experts say they don’t have capability, oh but you should still be scared.'”
Campos hopes that students will also get an understanding of what the MUN Club does.
“It’s a very serious MUN event that is going on with the U.S and North Korea, it teaches students to represent themselves publicly.” Campos said.
