MUMBAI – K-pop icon SEVENTEEN highlighted the importance of youth solidarity with a speech and a performance at the UNESCO Youth Forum in Paris on November 14, marking the historical moment of a first ever session at the forum fully dedicated to a musical artist.
Around 1,300 people from around the world were present at the session, including representatives from the 194 Member States of UNESCO, 170 youth delegates, as well as Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General of UNESCO, Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences, and Dr. Han Kyung Koo, Secretary-General of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO.
While the session was being live streamed online through UNESCO’s official YouTube channel, the 13-piece act’s fans joined in to celebrate the momentous occasion, with ‘SEVENTEEN’ trending at No. 1 on X (formerly Twitter) in France, ‘UNESCO’ hitting No.1 in Korea, and the hashtag ‘#SVT_totheworld_UNESCO’ trending at No.5 worldwide.
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During the session, members SEUNGKWAN, JUN, WOOZI, MINGYU, JOSHUA and VERNON took the floor to speak about how the experience of SEVENTEEN’s 13 members growing into a single team allowed them to reach their dreams they could only imagine as individuals, and pledged to continue supporting the dreams of young people around the world.
MINGYU said, “We want to make sure that no young people, no matter who they are or where they’re coming from, ever give up on their dreams or get discouraged. We believe that by supporting people’s dreams, we are also spreading positivity and hope.”
JOSHUA said, “We have already experienced what it’s like to make your dreams come true by coming together in solidarity for positive change. We hope that our actions through UNESCO will reach young people everywhere, who are fostering, reaffirming, and acting on their dreams, even as we speak.”
Enchanting performances of “_WORLD,” “Darl+ing,” “Headliner,” “God of Music,” and “Together” followed the speech, completing a set that best highlights the idea of hope and their positive energy SEVENTEEN has consistently represented throughout their career.
Ahead of the forum, PLEDIS Entertainment, UNESCO and the Korean National Commission for UNESCO (KNCU) announced that they signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signifying a global expansion of the existing partnership between PLEDIS Entertainment and KNCU. SEVENTEEN launched the ‘#GoingTogether’ campaign with KNCU in August last year as advocates of education and youth initiatives. Multiple projects were set in motion since then, including a donation campaign with SEVENTEEN’s fans on International Day of Education last January, and donating a part of the proceeds from their world tour ‘SEVENTEEN WORLD TOUR [BE THE SUN]’ to provide educational aid for children in Malawi. Prior to working with UNESCO, SEVENTEEN has made a donation to children’s organizations and foundations every year on the anniversary of their debut since 2017.
SEVENTEEN has resolutely called attention to the idea of hope throughout their career and has risen to popularity for their positive energy. This was most recently demonstrated with their previous album FML, which made history as the best-selling album ever in K-pop with its sales surpassing 6.2M copies within approximately two months of release. The 13-piece act also broke the first-week sales record in K-pop once again just 4 days after the release of their latest album, with 4.62M copies sold.
Their latest album SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN—a playful twist on the expression ‘Seventh Heaven’—is a musical celebration of what the band and their fans have achieved together thus far. SEVENTEEN invites everyone to join in on shared moments of happiness through the album, continuing on with their mission to shed light on the value of hope and happiness achieved through togetherness.
