What Happened in UADC, Stays in UADC

What happened in UADC, Stays in UADC

KIDA DPI Report: United Asian Debating Championship 2012

Interviewed and Edited by Jya Hyun Albert Lee

Korea has been largely under-represented in the international debate scene outside of the Northeast Asian arena. While Korea has hosted All Asians (predecessor of UADC) and Australs before and many teams were able to participate due to the geographical proximity, fewer number of societies send teams to international tournaments hosted outside of Korea. This year, however, Korea’s presence in UADC (United Asian Debating Championship), hosted by Multimedia University in Malaysia, was more visible than ever, sending Deputy Chief Adjudicator of the tournament, a total of three Korean debate societies, and a debater who participated in the adjudication test debate. Talks Online has interviewed some of UADC participants to find out what UADC this was like, and what Korean debaters need to do to step up in the international debate scene.

This article will feature interviews of the following individuals:

Hyewon Rho, Deputy Chief Adjudicator, KU (Korea University)

Hye Won Lee, Debater, EDiS

JuSeung Daniel Yi, Debater, SDS (Solbridge Debating Society)

Jan Galas, Adjudicator, CUDS (Chungang University Debating Society)

Namchul Kim, CUDS

The Two Hyewons, Rho on the right and Lee on the left

Hyewon Rho

Korea University – Division of International Studies, Senior

Newly appointed Vice President of KIDA 2012; Former Director of DPD of KIDA 2012

Served as the Deputy Chief Adjudicator at MMU UADC 2012

Tell us your general feeling towards UADC

Last year at Macau UADC 2011, our team broke to the Octofinals with six wins, ranking 8^th out of the entire tournament.  We were extremely honored and thankful to have the entire Korean delegation come watch our debate and cheer for us.  Even though we lost on a split, I left the tournament with great memories and a want to return. 

This year, my UADC experience was entirely different.  I was not a participant but rather a DCA, meaning that I had more workload and pressure coming from all sides.  Especially since Northeast Asia is a region that is relatively less represented, I felt incredibly honored to be representing Northeast Asia in the adjudication core. This was my first experience to be part of an Adj Core of an international tournament and it was phenomenal. I met so many interesting and different people. I learned so much from the Adj Core, the speakers, the adjudicators and the organizers. Furthermore, because Korea only sent a total of five teams to this year’s UADC, I felt that the Korean delegation as a whole were able to grow closer as a group. I loved getting to know the younger generation EDiS girls as well as Solbridge – a society that was always near but never close enough. As one of the older ones in the group, I feel extremely blessed to have met so many sweet juniors who are passionate about debate. Plus, they listen to me really well. So that was just awesome.

The Chief Adjudication Panel of UADC 2012

What do you think about the current Korean participation in UADC?

I think Northeast Asia, especially Korea, is doing pretty well overall. Although we did not have any teams breaking this year, we had strong speakers that received above average scores across the tab. I think a lot of students take UADC as a burden because it is a long tournament that requires one to skip school for a week and because it’s usually organized somewhere in Southeast Asia, the flight fare is also expensive.  However, I think if the Korean debating community wants to be recognized more and treated with more respect at international tournaments, we need to step out of our comfort zone (i.e. Northeast Asian Open) and move onto a larger stage and start creating records there. We’ve had two Korean DCAs in the past including myself (the other being Ah Young Kim from EDiS) and we’ve had a breaking team. I think it’s time to have more teams and adjudicators breaking and more importantly, more participants just being there!

What are the things that you think Korea can improve to ensure future success in UADC?

What I’ve noticed about some ‘celebrity’ teams at UADC was that they know how to set up a case in an extremely smooth and logical manner. In other words, they know what they want and how they’re going to get it. I think we Korean debaters lack in setting up cases in terms of setting goals and explaining the mechanism in achieving that goal. I think if we want to do better in the future, we first need to observe stellar debaters (especially the good first speakers) set up and clash with cases. Moreover, I think the Korean community as a whole needs more exposure to diverse types of topics and motions. I don’t think we necessarily lack knowledge about particular things, but rather we simply don’t have exposure to the diverse pool of motions that’s out there. Tournaments are not all about International Relations issues. Some need a philosophical background and some need clear ideas about society and its components. 

Advice for Korea Debate community

I’m extremely proud of the Korean community and where we’re at. I love the fact that there is an absence of rivalry feuds, political conflicts and the like within our debate community. I love the fact that we cheer for any Korean team or adjudicator that has made the break. I wish this ‘team spirit’ would continue on.  On the other hand, I wish we could get more competitive! KIDA has been organizing lots of practice sessions and workshops in which teams can get more of a competitive edge – I hope the Korean debating community takes advantage of such programs and get into a more ‘serious’ mode about debating. We need to start showing the Asian, Australasian, GLOBAL debating community that we’re serious stuff that they can’t mess with. J

Right before the break night party, all EDiS girls dressed up

 

Hyewon Lee, EDiS
 

I'm originally from EDiS but am currently serving as the President of KIDA. I've been to all the UADCs from its very first one in Thailand, second one in Macau and third and this one in Malaysia. 3rd MMU Malaysia UADC too, was a priceless experience which reaffirms and explains my habitual return to UADC every year. 

Tell us your general feeling towards UADC

 
Great experience, loads of fun is such a sure thing needing no explanation so instead, I'm going to focus on the quality of the tournament. I think UADC is certainly the highest Asia level tournament with intense competition. My definition of UADC all comes down to the excellent adjudication pool and definitely challenging rounds. UADC is also same as KNC in that it's Asian Parliament Style but it almost feels like it's a whole different debate style considering their emphasis on analysis and engagement; it's truly a tournament where nothing is proven until you prove it - even the common sense!

Tell us of any extraordinary experience at UADC

 
I was extremely lucky to take part in the test debate (a show debate with 6 speakers all representing different countries). There were debaters from Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and I was representing Korea/North East Asia as a whole. It was my first time to debate in front of what could've been around 70 adjudicators or more (the test debate was for adj. test) and yes I was very nervous but it was such a fantastic opportunity and great fun.

What do you think about the current Korean participation in UADC?

 
 I think this UADC was the one where even with only three Korean societies our presence in the tournament was definitely vivid. But it would definitely be better if we have more Korea teams coming, the more the merrier and more connection with Asian debaters the better for Korean debate community. 

What are the things that you think Korea can improve to ensure future success in UADC?

 
Training on matter and analysis: I think Korea by its innate culture and language, is one where people tend to be concise and sort of 'get what i mean' without many words or explanations even in our daily lives. The biggest weakness that I felt from myself and other Korean teams were that we "never explain and analyze enough". 

Any last words or advice for Korea Debate community?

I personally think that the crux and highlight of any debate life is this experience abroad; only when you debate with people that have different  cultural mentality with you (especially outside Korea) can you really confidently say that you have 'persuaded' that person. International debate tournaments are definitely worthy of higher cost and missing classes at university and your participation will be one of those moments you look back most to, after your graduation.

JuSeung Yi, SolBridge Debate Society

My name is JuSeung Yi. I go to SolBridge International School of Business and participated in 2012 UADC as a debater. I am also a founder of SolBridge Debate Society and am going to serve as a co-chief adjudicator for the upcoming fall KNC.

Tell us your general feeling towards UADC

Overall, UADC was a great learning experience for me. In every round, I was able to learn from many debaters from Southeast Asia. Not only did they have a unique style, but also they showed descriptive and solid analysis. As well as the debaters, most adjudicators were also great. They provided very detailed feedback. When there was a team of three panels to judge in a round, each of the panels in turn gave his or her perspective and individual feedback on the round.

Tell us of any extraordinary experience at UADC

I don’t know if it would be appropriate to bring this happening up here. But, I will share it anyway, hoping that this will never happen to other teams in any tournaments. On second day, none of my team members including me could hear our alarm clock and woke up late in the morning. Neither debaters nor buses but us were in the hotel. We freaked out and hurried into a cab to the venue which is 50 minutes away. But, one of my members thought the venue was Melaka where the host university’s another campus is located. So, in Korean context, we could’ve ended up in Daejeon instead of going to Bundang. Anyway, we were able to arrive right before the first roll call and debate.

What do you think about the current Korean participation in UADC?

Because this UADC is my first UADC, I don’t know about other UADCs that were held in the past. For this UADC, I think the Korean participation was quite low with only three institutions from Korea participating. It would’ve been better if more teams from Korea participated in UADC.

What are the things that you think Korea can improve to ensure future success in UADC?

I think the very first thing we can do for Korea’s success in UADC is to encourage more debaters and judges from Korea to participate in UADC. More active participation will raise profile of Korean debate community in UADC which is currently dominated by Southeast Asians. I think that will also help Korean teams competing in UADC. Another thing we can improve on is a sort of “knowledge sharing”. Because debaters and adjudicators in UADC have different styles than our style, it would be helpful for debaters to be aware of their styles and perspectives and to share tips on UADC. For me, Hyewon’s sharing experience in UADC was helpful in that it gave a sense of what I needed to expect and focus on for UADC.

Any last words or advice for Korea Debate community?

In international tournaments, get to know a lot of judges and debaters and talk to them to understand their perspectives on debate. I think that also helps you analyze arguments from different angles to some extent.

Jan Galas, Chungang University Debate Society

I've been in Korea debate circuit for almost 3 yrs now. I came to UADC as an adjudicator for CUDS.

Tell us your general feeling towards UADC

With the Asia’s best debaters and public speakers, UADC 2012 was a great experience for the entire Korean contingent. 

Tell us of any extraordinary experience at UADC

My most memorable experience at UADC was the sleepless soju nights with the Korean contingent and the entire UADC participants. More than anything else, the bond/friendship that was formed/strengthened was the best experience for me. 

   

What do you think about the current Korean participation in UADC?

In terms of number, I think the current Korean participation in UADC was low compared to last year. But in terms of the competition, the contingent put-up a good fight. 

What are the things that you think Korea can improve to ensure future success in UADC?

Increase participation in international debate tournaments and always be receptive to debate trends and new ideas. 

Any last words or advice for Korea Debate community?

Keep the debate culture alive at home (here in Korea) and encourage everyone to take advantage of international debate tournaments-- it's the best place to showcase Korea's debate prowess and also learn from the world's best debaters and public speakers. 

Namchul Kim, Chungang University Debating Society

Tell us your general feeling towards UADC

It was really a good tournament. There wasn’t that much delay, the hotel was nice and quality of the tournament was also good since Roh hyewon was DCA of this UADC. Seriously, it was great honor for Korea to have a DCA in the biggest debate tournament in Korea.

Tell us of any extraordinary experience at UADC

I had really bad luck. My team was bumped up 5 times from round 4 to 8, meaning I had to debate against teams with higher number of wins because my team had high speaker points. But on the brighter side, I spoke with a number of people in the organizing committee and there was much discussion on how to prevent such consecutive bumping up from happening in the future.

What do you think about the current Korean participation in UADC?

I think we should have more participants. Five teams were not enough to bring positive change to Korean debating society. International tournaments are somewhat expensive but if you participate you will get more experience and make more friends not only in Korea Debate but also foreign debaters who are not comparable to little bit of money.

What are the things that you think Korea can improve to ensure future success in UADC?

Korean debaters must read more. I think that is the biggest weakness of Korean debaters. We have great English ability and style but the only thing we do not have is knowledge. Without reading a book and newspaper we can’t catch up with good debaters such as those from NUS(National University of Singapore). And we also need to have competitive debate experience like KNC. I do not think KNC is competitive enough for us to train for international competitions.

Any last words or advice for Korea Debate community?

Korea debating society has improved a lot. But I don’t think that is enough. We are doing very well in Northeast Asia but that should be a starting point rather than an ending point. So all members of Korean debating society should study more and strive to be better.

END.