The delegate from Indonesia refused to budge. Twisting the drawstring of his sweatshirt hood around his index finger, he repeated his position: his country refused to allow refugees from North Korea to remain under any circumstances.

The North Korean delegate took a bite of his Granny Smith apple. "I just want to say that if you do choose to return the refugees, we can't guarantee what will happen to them."

"So you're threatening your own people?" the American delegate asked.

"Hey, listen," the North Korean delegate replied. "They left us!"

This exchange occurred not at the United Nations, but in a small classroom in Sever Hall. The "delegates" were students from local high schools participating in a simulation exercise in which they were given the task of resolving an international crisis ‹ an armed confrontation between North and South Korea.

The exercise, which took place last week, involved hundreds of students from nine area high schools and their teachers. After an orientation meeting at the Science Center, the students split up into small discussion groups, then came together again to present their resolutions. The event was organized by the Harvard Program for International Education (HPIE), an undergraduate group that encourages high school students to take an interest in international relations.

HPIE is associated with the Harvard Public Service Network, headquartered in Phillips Brooks House. It is part of the Harvard International Relations Council, an undergraduate-run group dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding of international relations.

Founded in 1987, HPIE sends undergraduate volunteers into the high schools to conduct supplementary classes on international events and issues. Each term's effort culminates in "Harvard Day," a role-playing simulation to which all participating schools are invited.

"It's tremendously challenging," said Sarah Wood '01, a Social Studies concentrator. "You only have one hour a week to spark their interest and suggest that there's a wider world out there. It gives me a great deal of appreciation for what my professors are doing."

Each term, the undergraduate tutors concentrate on a specific theme. This fall it was East Asia, culminating in the simulated Korean crisis, in which famine in North Korea combined with military aggression pushes the region to the brink of war, forcing each nation involved to assess its interests.

The crisis is fictional, but designed with great attention to political realities in the 10-page brief created by Tom Saunders '00, curriculum coordinator for HPIE. Wood points out that three out of the last five hypothetical scenarios have actually come true, an indication of how closely the program's simulations correspond to the real world.

Timothy Hoey, a history teacher at Malden Catholic High School, said that he appreciated the tutors' ability to bring the reality of international events into his classroom.

"The tutors were very good at making the topics interesting and relevant and drawing connections with things that are happening in the news. It's the perfect complement to what the kids are getting in their regular classes," he said.