Meet the Secretary General
Sabina Lee was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts
to Korean immigrant parents, but grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts. Sabina’s
Korean name, Kayoung, means ‘beautiful flower’. Her father, who is actively
involved in the Buddhist community in Boston, had a monk friend who gave this
name to her. Sabina is now a sophomore at Yale, where she is majoring in
English.
Sabina’s interest for YMUN Korea came from her
desire to continue involving herself in MUN conference planning. As a high
school student, she organized 2 middle school MUN conferences. Although she was
offered the opportunity to organize several other international conferences in Budapest,
Shanghai and Taipei, Sabina chose to organize the YMUN conference in Seoul
instead. Why? She wanted to encourage Korean students to engage in a meaningful
debate on international issues as Korean students grapple with international
relations issues in their daily lives, considering that South Korea is at the center
of prominent global issues such as North-South Korean relations and South Korea’s
strategic position in the conflict between Japan and China.
At this conference, she will be serving as the
Secretary General, a role which requires her to be responsible for all aspects
of the conference. She has to work out details from committee and chair placements
to conference logistics, designs, delegations, branding and more. As the
Secretary General of YMUN Korea, she represents the secretariat on the YIRA
Board of Executive Directors. Sabina hopes to ensure a successful execution of
the conference. To aid her in the organizing of this conference, Sabina needed
a strong secretariat. “I have a lot of responsibility,” she explained. “This is
why I have carefully constructed and picked outstanding individuals from Yale
and Korea to join my Secretariat teams in New Haven and in Seoul to help me
plan it.”
Her first MUN experience was at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Model United Nations Conference (MITMUNC),
where she represented a “tiny Latin American country in the UNDP” as a high
school sophomore. Her first conference experience was not much different from
other first-timers; although terrified by her eloquent friends at first, she
spoke out to defend her country’s stance. She encourages first-time delegates
to do the same. “Speak up! Try to speak at least once an hour – it may be
intimidating, but if you stay involved, you won’t get bored, you’ll learn about
international relations, and you’ll befriend a lot of people.”
Aside from MUN, Sabina is passionate about traveling and trying new food. Her adventurous nature has seen her embark on a solo trip to Europe. She hopes to travel with her suite mates to a tropical country before graduation, as well as take her parents on a trip to Spain, London, or Paris, since they have never been to Europe before. Sabina is also passionate in Shakespeare and Spanish art, and is keen on learning how to swim well.
By Zoey Ryu
