Topic : Resolving the Dilemmatic Presence of Child Soldiers

Committee : Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee

Country : Republic of South Korea

The presence of child soldiers on the battlefield has been a prominent problem especially in underdeveloped
region. The political instability, poor economic condition, as well as social pressures contribute significantly in
the increasing number of child soldier who are either recruited by government or other military groups. This
issue also faces some obstacles which make it hard to resolve. The main problem regarding the issue is that
every country has its own definition of children. According to Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989),
children is defined as any person under the age of 18. However, Hart (2006) argued that age is not the main
variable at measuring child’s maturity. What if that child is raised in political environment and want to be
drafted in military? Furthermore, the lack of military fire power in conflict region forces government to draft
child as soldier either through forceful approach such as thereat and torture or persuasive approach such as
reward to maintain political stability.

Nevertheless, we as the delegate of Republic of South Korea believe that using child as soldier especially on the
battlefield is inhuman act. We have witnessed ourselves the tragic and devastating effect that could occur
because we have experienced it ourselves during the Korean War. We used high school students to defend key
territory in our land against North Korea and we lost around 3000 soldiers between the ages of 14 and 17
(Kuhn, 2020). The thing that makes this tragic is that these children were not trained enough and not as strong
as the adversaries, thus the have unfair fight on the battlefield (Kuhn, 2020). Due to tragic experience that we
had, we believe that child under the age of 18 should not be soldier. We have signed and ratified most of the
treaty regarding the elimination of child soldier such as Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in
Armed Conflict (OPAC), Rome Statute, and Paris Commitments and Principles. Hence, we make sure that all
policies especially regarding mandatory military service do not contradict with what was being stated on those
treaties. In addition, we also fund worth 2.1 million USD annually toward various programs that aimed at
preventing child involvement in armed conflict such as UNICEF program to protect children in Afghanistan,
Sudan, and Democratic Republic of Congo (Child Soldiers International, 2008). In addition, we have taken
several bilateral actions with countries that are in conflict to prevent them from using child in armed conflict,
including 2.3 million USD programs to provide facilities for children such as book, computer, stationary, etc.
(Child Soldiers International, 2008).

To eradicate the presence of child solder in armed conflict, se advocate for any efforts that aimed at creating and
maintaining political, economy, and social stability in every part of the world. In addition, we also open to
collaborate with every actor that aimed at eliminating the presence of child soldier in armed conflict. Aside
from that we propose several resolutions that might solve this issue. First, we urge other nations to be more
sensitive and aware regarding this issue by building solid platform for every nation to report the alleged
presence of child in armed conflict. We believe that acknowledging the presence of child soldier is the first step
to combat it. Second, we encourage countries that are in conflict to share its problem openly in international
platform, thus the presence of child soldier can be prevented. Third, we encourage the creation of education
program especially in conflict-vulnerable region so the children can learn and study instead of being drafted in
military because most of the time the children that are drafted in military don not have other path to follow.
Hence, we believe by creating education program in conflict-vulnerable region can turn away some of the
children from becoming soldier. Fourth, we urge the establishment of economic aid for conflict-vulnerable
region as a tool to maintain economic stability in those regions because most of the time conflict that occur due
to economic instability. However, the economic aid is not given away freely, the economic aid only can be
given under the condition that a country has fulfilled all obligations including the commitment not to use child
as soldier. We believe that by realizing four solutions that we propose, the presence of child soldier can be
minimized significantly.

Child Soldiers International, 2008. Child Soldiers Global Report 2008 – Korea, Republic of, 20 May 2008,
available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/486cb10fc.html [accessed 9 April 2021]

Hart, J., 2006. The Politics of "Child Soldiers." The Brown Journal of World Affairs, 13(1), pp.217-226.

Kuhn, A., 2020. Thousands Of Child Soldiers Died In The Korean War. Survivors Want More Recognition.
[online] NPR. Available at: <https://www.npr.org/2020/06/25/882046201/thousands-of-child-soldiers-
died-in-the-korean-war-survivors-want-more-recogniti> [Accessed 9 April 2021].

UN General Assembly, 1989. Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, United Nations,
Treaty Series, vol. 1577, p. 3, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b38f0.html [accessed 10
April 2021]

Should there be a universal definition of children that all country must follow??