SEVENTEEN has made history as the first K-pop artist to take the stage at the UNESCO headquarters
On November 14 (local time), SEVENTEEN delivered a speech and performance at the 13th UNESCO Youth Forum, which was held at the main hall of UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. As the first K-pop artist to be assigned an entire session during the UNESCO General Assembly event, SEVENTEEN conducted the session for about an hour.
On this day, SEVENTEEN spoke on the theme, “Solidarity and Education Among Youth Change the Future of Youth and the Earth.”
Member Seungkwan, who started the speech, mentioned his hometown Jeju Island, saying, “My story today begins at this island where I was born and raised. It was on this beautiful island, so far from the capital, Seoul, that I worked toward my dreams”.
He then expressed his overwhelming feelings, saying, “The little boy who dreamed of a big future from that World Heritage Island now stands before you at the UNESCO headquarters today.”
Following this, member Jun began his speech in Chinese, mentioning that the group’s members are each other’s teachers, who practiced together, created together, and gradually became better individuals. He also expressed the group’s determination, saying, “I believe SEVENTEEN is standing here today because we faced the challenges when they came and never gave up. The 13 of us got here, with full support for each other, and will continue on.”
Another member, Woozi, revisited SEVENTEEN’s journey leading up to today, mentioning the skepticism of failure that surrounded SEVENTEEN at their debut. He emphasized that SEVENTEEN were too young to give up, and that success didn’t come quickly, but the time they spent with passion, practicing together, was always enjoyable.
The members were always cheerful, never losing laughter in any situation, Woozi shared, adding that their practice room was always filled with positive words. He then thanked each member of SEVENTEEN individually, moving fans to tears with his sincere words.
Meanwhile, Mingyu shared the story of SEVENTEEN donating 13 goats to children in Tanzania in 2016 after receiving their first payment. Mingyu mentioned receiving a letter from the children, and said that it reminded the group of the process we went through to chase their dreams.
Finally, Joshua promised to actively serve as an ambassador for UNESCO to raise awareness of the importance of education, a significant challenge of this era, while Vernon read the lyrics of SEVENTEEN’s songs.
In the subsequent performance, SEVENTEEN selected five songs, including “_World”, “Darling”’ “Headliner”, “God of Music”, and “Together”, garnering enthusiastic responses from the audience.
Source: Nate
