II. Examining the Impact of Organized Crime on Sustainable Development

Republic of Korea

Positions for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

1. Developing an Action Plan to Address Urban Growth in the Asia-Pacific Region

The Republic of Korea, ROK, experienced an extreme rapid industrialization after the Korean War armistice was signed[1]. The country would, from then on, be spilt into two distinct spheres of influence. The north would be aligned with the Chinese and Soviet Union, while the south would be aligned with the United States. This meant that an avalanche of investment went into ROK, and the Korean people moved on mass to cities from the countryside[2]. This would lead to the ROK cities of Seoul, Incheon, and the Gyeonggi Province would become the most populated province of the ROK. These two cites and province would become known as the Capital Region (CR)[3] and would boom following this capital investments over the years, “while the CR accounts for 11.8 per cent of South Korean territory, in 2012 it was home to 25.7 million residents( about half of the country’s population). Economic activity… in the CR, accounting for 47.1 per cent of South Korea’s total firms in 2010.”[4]. This statistic from the East Asia Forum clearly shows how important this industrialization was to the country, as the region where the industrialization happen became the most populous and prosperous.

This rapid industrialization was regulated by three major pieces of legislation introduced by the ROK’s government to control and restrict growth to a manageable level. These pieces of legislation enforced, “ a quota for the number of factories allowed to operate in the CR… the construction of public office building was controlled, and an‘over-crowding charge’ was imposed on business that caused congestion in the CR”[5]. The general idea was to encourage regulated and controlled development in the area. The real impact of this method is hotly debated through the country and in particular in the CR. Business in the area feel that deregulation would encourage more growth.[6] This has been balanced by the different ruling parties, where some push further regulation and others push deregulation. Regardless of the feelings and thoughts of business owners and the ruling parties, this method has helped the ROK become a world. Without a methodological approach, the growth into the CR could have exploded and become a major urban crises or faded away. A planned growth has allowed the CR to become competitive on the world stage and ensure the health and benefits of its citizens.

II. Examining the Impact of Organized Crime on Sustainable Development

The Republic of Korea (South Korea) has been fraught with domestic violence from Kkangpae for decades. Since the beginning of European investment in this region at the dawn of the 20th century, gangs have been growing in numbers, power, and influence and have often had a significant impact on our state politics[7]. However, this was only the beginning and since the 1970s, under military rule, gang attacks have only become more violent in our country and our goal is to relieve this both in South Korea and in this region entirely. Our country unfortunately has the reputation for being known for our gangs’ drug smuggling and sexual trafficking and we long to change this.

Luckily, here in South Korea we are fortunate enough to have a relatively low crime rate compared to other developed nations but we believe that we still can always improve on our current situation especially given that our rates of drug usage and drug related crime has increased in recent years[8].

We recommend that the United Nations send funds to facilitate drug treatment not only to us here in South Korea but also to our allies here in the Pacific region. We believe that by treating those who suffer from addiction we can both save on resources that are poured into penal institutions as well as help keep drugs from continuing to grow as a problem in our region. In addition to this, we believe that each sovereign state in this body needs to reexamine their own individual policies on both drug and sexual trafficking that are happening within their borders. Obviously this body cannot impose any demands upon sovereign states but we do urge each state to look at their own policies and make a goal to decrease the entrance of drugs and illegal sex workers into their countries by half within the next ten years.

[1]“South Korea’s Urban Development Dilemma”, East Asia Forum, accessed October 27, 2017,

[2]Ibid,.

[3]Ibid,.

[4]Ibid,.

[5]Ibid,.

[6]Ibid,.

[7]“South Korea 2017 Crime & Safety Report”, United States Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security, accessed October 27, 2017,

[8] "Drugs in South Korea: A Silent Crisis,”KOREA EXPOSÉ, accessed March 18, 2017, accessed October 27, 2017,