The Cornell-Yonsei Debate Invitational is a tournament organized by the Cornell University Speech and Debate Society, the Yonsei University Foreign Language Institute, and Debate Korea to provide domestic and international middle and high school students with advanced debating experience. After its first tournament in 2014, the seventh tournament in 2020 was held online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament, thus far held only in an offline debate format, was redesigned as an intensive debate camp, offering opportunities to develop the logical thinking skills necessary for successful global leaders. In addition, this year's tournament will offer more thorough individual feedback and Q&A with university student mentors currently studying abroad. This new approach will give students interested in debate a valuable experience.

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This tournament has been sponsored by the National Assembly's Education, Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee since 2018, with the 2018 finals held at the National Assembly Building and the 2019 finals at KINTEX. The Cornell-Yonsei English Debate for Middle and High School Students includes not only debate rounds but also workshops conducted by the prestigious Cornell University debate team and the Yonsei University debate team, which won the 2015 Korea Intervarsity Debate Association National Championship (KNC) and advanced to the main round of the 2017 World University Debate Championship for the first time among Korean universities. The workshop is held all day, two days before the tournament, and is open to anyone interested.

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In order to encourage as many students to participate, the Cornell-Yonsei Debate Invitational opened registration to all individuals without institutional team requirements or restrictions. The competition follows the Asian Parliamentary English debate format, with three members per team, and has six preliminary rounds.

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The middle school league, newly established in 2017, is held simultaneously with the high school league, which allows middle school students to learn from their debate seniors by observing the rounds and listening to adjudicators’ feedback. All participants will receive an official invitation and a certificate of participation. In addition, semifinalists, Top 3 Best Speakers, and EFL Top 3 Best Speakers will receive corresponding awards. The awards are presented by the Chairman of the National Assembly's Education Committee, National Assembly members, the Chairman of Debate Korea, and other National Assembly members.