The First SNU Management and Economic Debate Competition for the Business School and the Department of Economics students was held on May 19, Thursday at Building 58 of the SNU Business School. Hosted by the 36th Business School Student Council “Boreum” with the support of the SNU College of Commerce Alumni Association, the competition was attended by Teams HMH, RGRG, Governance, Retaking the Introduction to Writing, 327, Senegi, and Seolgyeongeun Economy, who passed the preliminary round. The participants led a heated debate on the theme "Which management style is more suitable: family management or professional management?"

             Professor judges included Professor Jung-Wook Kim at the Business School, Professor Jinwoo Kim at the Department of Economics, and Professor Jonbsub Lee at the Business School. Alumni judges included alumni Byungyoon Lee (Department of Economics), Sangwan Kang (Business School), and Changho Kim (Business School). 

             The SNU Management and Economic Debate Competition, which was held for the first time, opened a new forum for academic exchange where students could freely debate on the fundamental issues of corporate management under the themes of imminent management and economic issues. Unlike the previous Business School academic conference, which was only open to the members of Business School academic groups, this debate competition was open to any undergraduate student from the Business School and the Department of Economics. It was a significant event that revitalized academic exchange between students majoring in commerce and served as an opportunity to cultivate the academic culture through friendly competition. 

            The debate competition consisted of three rounds, each of which was conducted for 40 minutes, starting with each team's argument (4 minutes), questions and answers (6 minutes), counterargument (4 minutes), free discussion (12 minutes), and final remarks (3 minutes). The competition was only open to the teams that passed the preliminary round by submitting written arguments. 

             The winner of this competition was the 327 Team: Subin Kim (Business School, Matriculating Class of 2020), Seungwoo Yeo (Department of Economics, Matriculating Class of 2020), and Seoyoung Kim (Business School, Matriculating Class of 2020). The winners were presented with an award certificate from Dean Sang-Hoon Kim of Seoul National University, as well as a 1,200,000 KRW prize each from the College of Commerce Alumni Association. 400,000 KRW was awarded to the gold prize winner, 200,000 KRW each to the two silver prize winners, and 150,000 KRW to the three bronze prize winners, along with award certificates from the Dean. 

             Heejoo Kim (Undergraduate, Matriculating Class of 2019), Director of Academic Exchange Team at the SNU Business Student Council Boreum, who oversaw the competition, said, "I felt a sense of responsibility and some pressure as I took part in preparing the debate competition, which was one of the projects pledged by Boreum, from the beginning. However, I am pleased to see it ending successfully." Heejoo added, "I would like to thank the judges who have worked until the late hours, the participants who have debated passionately, and the members of the Academic Exchange Team who supported us throughout the event." 

             Continuation of this event will hopefully create a broader forum for academic exchange between the undergraduate students at the Business School and the Department of Economics.