All roads led to this point for the 13 men of SEVENTEEN, who spoke to the delegates of the 13th edition of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)’s Youth Forum, sharing their wealth of experiences and lessons to reach their dreams of becoming K-Pop superstars.
“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, one step at a time, with full support from each other, and will continue on,” said performance team member Jun, addressing the audience in Chinese.
On 14 November at the organisation’s headquarters in Paris, France, the superstar group participated in the Youth Forum, during the organisation’s biennial General Conference.
[17'S] SEVENTEEN @UNESCO Youth Forum SEVENTEEN Session!
— 세븐틴(SEVENTEEN) (@pledis_17) November 14, 2023
Let's make it so we're all #GoingTogether by learning together.#SEVENTEEN #세븐틴 pic.twitter.com/FR4MKheUiD
They are the first Korean artists to be invited and tasked with presiding over a special session, where they addressed around 173 representatives, and imparted messages on behalf of, and for young people across the world. They shared anecdotes from their storied beginnings and spoke as candidly as they could about how they overcame adversity to arrive at their present successes.
Before a string of performances of ‘_WORLD’, ‘Darl+ing’, ‘Headliner,’ ‘음악의 신’ (God of Music), and a new English version of ‘Together,’ Seungkwan, Jun, Woozi, Mingyu, Joshua, and Vernon delivered speeches on behalf of all the 13 members.
Taking to the podium one at a time, they talked about how their growth “led us to make contributions to the greater world,” their relationship with CARATs and the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, their advocacy in improving educational infrastructure in the least developed countries, and how they convey these through their music.
Watch their speeches and performances here:
Seungkwan, opening the group’s address, spoke of nurturing his dreams in his home island of Jeju, mentioning how it has been recognised by UNESCO on at least 3 different occasions. “The little boy who dreamed of a big future from that World Heritage island now stands before you at the UNESCO headquarters today,” he said in Korean.
“I, along with all the other members of the group, would like to share with all the young people of the world the importance of nature, the value of striving for a better future, the importance of education, and our personal stories of how we have grown closer to our dreams, one step at a time,” the vocalist added.
“From the day we met in 2012 to today, each day has let me have complete faith in the following: ‘As long as we’re together, I’m not afraid of failure. I can’t do it alone, but all of us can do it together. We share a dream.’” Jun said. “We were teachers to one another. We practised together, created together, and became better versions of ourselves. We may not be perfect as individuals, but together, we are the best team, SEVENTEEN.”
Woozi related that even early on, they had their share of detractors, but this did not faze them. “We weren’t discouraged. We were too young to be discouraged,” he said. “The passion for our dreams wasn’t deterred in the slightest. And on top of that, we had each other who acted as a teacher and a supporter to one another.”
“Success didn’t come quickly, but the 13 of us spending time together and sharing our passions made every minute of the ride enjoyable. We were always cheerful and all smiles, no matter what.”
He also shared lessons on building harmony, especially when they make music while accounting for each member’s opinion. “As you can imagine it isn’t easy to reach a consensus when there are this many of us, but this process is actually what has brought us together as one,” he said. “Trying to find the best ways to foster a better society while accommodating everyone’s opinions is no small feat. But we have learned first-hand that diverse voices lead to impactful solutions.”
While missing general leader S.Coups, who is still recovering from his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, the group’s resident songwriter and producer also mentioned him as he addressed and thanked each of his members one by one: “You are always the first to discover our strengths and foster them.”
To talk about the background of the group’s advocacies, Mingyu shared an anecdote from around the time they marked their first year as a group when he said that they started to make money. “It wasn’t a lot but we were very happy, and we wanted to share this joy with somebody,” he said, talking about the group’s decision to pool funds to buy goats for children in Tanzania, named after the members: S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, The8, Mingyu, DK, Seungkwan, Vernon and Dino. He explained that goats were economically important, especially for rural regions in the East African nation.
“We got back to practising and were so absorbed in our work that we nearly forgot about those goats we sent to Tanzania. Then, one day, something happened that blew us away,” the rapper recounted. “All the way from Africa, from a Tanzanian child whose name and age we knew nothing of, came a letter with a photo of the goat. There was one particular line in that letter: ‘I’ll take care of this goat. For my dreams.’”
“But after all that time teaching, learning, and growing together toward our dreams just like that Tanzanian child, we’ve made it here to our ninth year performing as SEVENTEEN, and over 15 million copies of our albums were sold this year alone. We went from an audience of 800 to more than a million enjoying our performance both in person and online, for which we are extremely grateful.”
Mingyu also imparted that since 2017, to mark their anniversary, they have made donations in support of children’s foundations and organisations. “We do it because we want to make sure that no young people, no matter where 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,” he added.
Joshua spoke more at length about their initiatives to help address inequality in education with the Korean National Commission for UNESCO (KNCU), including their #GoingTogether Global Campaign for the Futures of Education Initiative.
“Through the campaign, we seek to make young people, the ones who will be leading the future, be aware of the importance of education. The campaign also supports growth through educational opportunities,” he explained.
Through their fundraising efforts such as the BongBong font after the Mingyu-created character, a booth activation at their fan meeting, along with a portion of their tour profits, they were able to have a school built in Malawi, he said, also crediting the support of their fandom CARATs.
Presenting their aims to expand the campaign on a global scale, Joshua said “We want to take on a greater share of the responsibility, reach even more regions, and do even more. That is why we are here with you all today.”
Finally, Vernon introduced their songs to close the Youth Forum special session, highlighting their core messages. “We hope you’ll be able to hear how the story of our growth together translates to our music,” he said, right before they lit up the UNESCO headquarters with their trademark energetic performances.
Speaking about the invitation extended to SEVENTEEN, Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences Gabriela Ramos said, “We invited a group that also had messages of solidarity, that remind us that every single young person in the world should look with empathy and compassion to other young people that don’t have your [opportunities]. Therefore, I feel that it is very good that we have [SEVENTEEN] to bring their voices and aspirations.”
“But also, because this is a house of culture,” she added. “UNESCO is about education, science, and culture – and there is nothing better than music, than art, to convey also those messages that we care about.”
“Today’s special session with SEVENTEEN will be a great arena where we can reaffirm the marvellous solidarity among us members of humanity.” Sang Mi Bak, the Korean Ambassador to UNESCO, said as a preface to the members’ speeches. “SEVENTEEN is a sensational K-pop band whose extraordinary talent and dedication are making history on the global music scene. Together, the members have captured the hearts and minds of all people from different corners of the world. I believe that what SEVENTEEN can achieve in this special session will be a true testament to the power of music.”
Prior to the UNESCO event, HYBE, the company which houses SEVENTEEN’s label PLEDIS Entertainment, said in a statement: “It's significant that a singer group from South Korea – a nation that took its first step for revival from the aftermath of war with the educational support of UNESCO of over 70 years ago – addresses global youth with a hopeful message about solidarity and youth.”
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