SolBridge Debate Society (SDS) won the 2018 Fall KIDA National Championships (KNC) held from 16th - 18th November 2018. The 23rd KNC (the oldest and most prestigious debating championship in Korea) was hosted by Ewha Womans University and was attended by 120 debaters representing the top universities from Korea, including Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Korea University, Sogang University, Sungkyunkwan University, Hanyang University, Chungang University, Ewha Womans University, Kyunghee University, and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. This is SDS second National Championship, coming almost precisely on the 4th anniversary of their first title (Nov 9, 2014), after falling just short several times since then (two Grand Finals appearances and two semifinal appearances). SDS is still the only institution outside of Seoul to have ever won the National Championship.

2018 Fall KNC  was held in the British Parliamentary debating style, a popular format featuring four teams that compete against each other, with each team being ranked 1st to 4th then receiving points based on their ranking (1st = 3 points, 2nd = 2 points, 3rd = 1 point, 4th = 0 points). At the end of the preliminary rounds, the points are tallied to determine the top 16 ranking teams, which would move on to compete in the break rounds, with separate breaks being available for EFL and novice teams. At the end of the five preliminary rounds, three of our teams had made it to the elimination rounds, with SDS1 (Leomar Doctolero and Jaedong Jeong) ranking 2nd overall, SDS2 (Silvia Sun and Diyorbek Mukhammedov) ranking 15th, and SDS3 (Houymean Lim and Jamoliddin Ergash-zoda) qualifying in the EFL category (ranked 2nd).

While SDS2 concluded its journey in the Quarterfinals and SDS3 fell just short of winning the EFL Championship, SDS1 cruised through the eliminations rounds (where the top two teams from each room move onto the next round), placing a unanimous 1st in each of the Quarterfinal and Semifinal rounds against teams from Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Sogang University, and Hanyang University. In the Grand Finals, they were pitted against Kyunghee University (the team that ranked 1st in the preliminary rounds and had edged us at the Grand Finals of the Northeast Asian Championships the week before) and two teams from Seoul National University. Despite being placed in a challenging position, the team dominated on the biggest stage, with the seven judges in the Grand Finals panel all agreeing to award the Championship to SolBridge Debate Society.

This second National Championship is one of the most noteworthy accomplishments in what has been the most successful year in the history of SolBridge Debate Society. Some of the key highlights of 2018 thus far have included being crowned Champions of four major international events (Pan-Pacific Debating Championships, China BP Championships, KIDA Open, and Beijing Debate Challenge) and reaching the Semi-finals of Asian BP Championships and the World University Debating Championships (ESL Division). Clinching the National Championship also shows that SDS can handle its business at home, as well as winning abroad.

Such accomplishments are the result of the extensive, tireless support that SolBridge provides to its students who seek to pursue excellence both inside and outside the classroom. SolBridge Debate Society's recognition as the top debate institution in Korea and Northeast Asia is one way in which SolBridge proves that our students are being educated to be (and in many ways, already are) the Next Generation of Asian Thought Leaders.educated to be (and in many ways, already are) the Next Generation of Asian Thought Leaders.