Following BTS and BLACKPINK, aespa become the 3rd idol group to step onto the podium at the UN.
On July 5th, aespa appeared at the United Nations’ High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development to give their speech. Following BTS and BLACKPINK, aespa is the 3rd idol group to step onto the podium at the UN, which is why the girls were under even heavier burdens, especially from the netizens who doubted their qualification to be there.
However, amid such doubt, Karina’s part during the speech is gaining attention. Giselle was the first one to step up. “The topic of sustainable development is urgent and we believe the next generation must support sustainable development goals in order to protect the world that we live in,” Giselle gave her speech in fluent English.
When she stepped back and everyone thought the speech has ended, Karina surprised everyone by stepping up to the mic and continuing in English. “Once again, thank you again for having us,” she show how grateful they were for this chance and proceed to introduce their “Next Level” stage.
Both fans inside and outside of Korea are surprised by Karina’s soft voice, which is different from what they have seen before, as well as her natural English pronunciation and fluency. Despite some small mistakes, netizens agreed it was normal for Karina to be nervous and made small mistakes like that when she was standing at such a grand and important event. Many commented, “Oh my, she looks nervous,” “Karina overcoming her nervousness to speak in front of dignitaries like that…” “Karina is very relatable, I would be freaking out too,” “Karina was so nervous, but she did well to pull through the ending tho.”
Actually, Karina’s English has been praised to be great enough to communicate in daily life without any trouble by the Coachella staff before, when the girl group went to perform at the music festival.
