Seventeen's UNESCO Speech: "We Focused on Our Cheerful Voices and Believed"

Youth Forum Held in Paris... First Speech by a K-pop Singer
"Sharing Dreams is Sharing Positivity and Hope" Message

The group SEVENTEEN (S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, The8, Mingyu, DK, Seungkwan, Vernon, Dino) became the first K-pop idol singers to step onto the UNESCO headquarters podium and deliver a message of hope and solidarity.

On the 15th (Korean time), SEVENTEEN gave a special session speech and performance at the 13th UNESCO Youth Forum held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France.

Seventeen [Photo by Pledis Entertainment]

They spoke on the theme "Solidarity and Education Among Youth Change the Future of Youth and the Earth." The allocated session lasted one hour, marking the first time a K-pop artist was assigned an entire session during a UNESCO General Conference event.

All 12 members attended except S.Coups, who is currently on hiatus due to injury and undergoing rehabilitation. Among them, six members including Seungkwan, Jun, Woozi, Mingyu, Joshua, and Vernon spoke as representatives.

Seungkwan mentioned his hometown Jeju Island, saying, "A beautiful island, but a very distant island from the capital Seoul, where I nurtured my own dreams. The small boy who dreamed of the future on this island, designated by UNESCO as a World Natural and Cultural Heritage site, now stands here today at the UNESCO headquarters."

SEVENTEEN debuted in 2015 and has conveyed positive messages through many of their songs. Woozi said, "Even in our ninth year since debut, SEVENTEEN is a group that continues to grow and gain fans," adding, "We couldn't have expected success from the start."

He revealed, "There were also unkind views that we would fail."

He continued, "When we first debuted, there were criticisms that there were too many members. Since the average age of the members was 17 and very young, there were many doubts like 'They won't get along well,' and 'It will be difficult for them to build their own musical world.'

However, "We did not get discouraged. We were too young to be discouraged. Members with different skills and emotions in vocals, performance, and hip-hop started to learn from and get along with each other, and the team's unique color began to emerge. The cheerful teaching and learning method unique to SEVENTEEN was our growth method."

Seungkwan [Photo by Pledis Entertainment]

Woozi said, "Our practice room is always filled with positive words like 'Fighting' and 'Just a little more.' Focusing on the cheerful voices of the members rather than negative external comments, the belief that we would succeed together solidified like a conviction." He added, "When working on albums, we regularly hold group meetings to include everyone's stories. Although gathering opinions from many members is not easy, those processes actually brought us together as one."

Jun, who is from China, confessed in Chinese, "At first, I didn't know any Korean, so the language barrier was a big concern." He continued, "We are teachers to each other. We became better versions of ourselves by creating and practicing together. The 13 of us have helped each other to come this far and will continue to move forward."

Jun also emphasized, "Although there are many problems in the present and many uncertainties in the future, I firmly believe that together we can definitely overcome them."

Mingyu introduced SEVENTEEN's social sharing activities. He revealed that in 2016, the year after their debut, they donated 13 goats named after the members to children in Tanzania, Africa, on their debut anniversary after receiving their first earnings. He shared that they later received a letter along with a photo of the goats from a Tanzanian child, which included the phrase, 'I will take good care of the goats for my dreams.'

He recalled, "That phrase held our eyes for a long time. It reminded us of the process of running toward our dreams." He added, "Six months after debut, our first solo concert had fewer than 800 attendees. Our debut album sold only 1,400 copies at release. However, like the Tanzanian child, we have taught, learned, grown, and run together for our dreams, and this year we have grown into a group selling over 15 million albums."

In particular, Mingyu emphasized, "Sharing dreams is also sharing positivity and hope."

Joshua [Photo by Pledis Entertainment]

Joshua promised to expand SEVENTEEN's sharing activities on a global scale. He said in English, "We will build schools to establish educational infrastructure in the Third World and support the continuous operation of forums for educational discussions." He also stated, "I will actively work as a UNESCO ambassador to raise awareness of the importance of education."

He raised his voice, saying, "SEVENTEEN has experienced that there is a path to achieving dreams through learning from each other in solidarity. Learning, as SEVENTEEN has shown, can change a person, expand that person's dreams, and ultimately change the world."

Following the speech, SEVENTEEN also performed on stage. They performed five songs including "World," "Darling," "Headliner," "God of Music," and "Let's Go Together," eliciting cheers.

The main hall's 1,220 seats were filled with youth representatives from 173 countries, 550 fans selected by lottery, and officials from various countries. On-site, 21 foreign media outlets including AFP and Japan's NHK covered the event.

SEVENTEEN [Photo by Pledis Entertainment]

A UNESCO official said, "This is the first time the main hall seats at UNESCO headquarters have been completely filled. The audience's reaction to SEVENTEEN's speech and performance is unbelievable."

SEVENTEEN's agency Pledis Entertainment stated, "The atmosphere on site was explosive. The audience stood and cheered at every stage, enjoying SEVENTEEN's songs together. Especially during the 'God of Music' stage, all members came down to the audience seats and passionately connected with the audience up close."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.