The story of small individuals coming together to form a massive team and how they met in their mid-teens and grew together as they became each other’s teachers. The K-pop group SEVENTEEN spent nearly an hour candidly sharing their growth narrative, and representatives of young people worldwide listened attentively. When the hidden growing pains of the thirteen members were revealed, some fans couldn’t help but shed tears.
SEVENTEEN, the first K-pop artist to stand on the UNESCO headquarters podium (comprising members S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, The8, Mingyu, DK, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino), touched fans and the global youth generation with their heartfelt growth story.
On the 15th (Korean time, local time 14th), SEVENTEEN held a special session at the 13th ‘UNESCO Youth Forum’ at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, where they gave speeches and performances for approximately an hour. Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General of UNESCO, attended the event. Han Kyung-gu, the Secretary-General of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, representatives of UNESCO member states (194 countries), about 170 young people, and 550 general visitors.
SEVENTEEN took to the stage in the Main Hall, the largest and most symbolic space at UNESCO headquarters, to deliver a cheerful yet serious call to action for the youth and future generations. On this day, members Seungkwan, Jun, Woozi, Mingyu, Joshua, and Vernon (in order of speech) represented the group, delivering speeches in three languages (Korean, English, and Chinese). Immediately after the speeches, they also performed five songs filled with the group’s unique positive message: “Let’s overcome together, not despair.”
◇”SEVENTEEN’s unique method of learning joyfully from each other is also SEVENTEEN’s unique method of growth”
Seungkwan, the first speaker, opened his speech by mentioning his special connection with UNESCO and his hometown, Jeju Island. Seungkwan stated, “Jeju Island was the first place in the world to be designated by UNESCO in all three natural environment categories,” and added, “A small boy who dreamt of the future on an island designated as a World Natural Heritage site by UNESCO, stands here at UNESCO headquarters today.”
Next, Jun mentioned the bond of SEVENTEEN, where members became each other’s teachers and grew together. Jun said, “From the day I first met the members in 2012 until now, there’s one thing I’ve been sure of every day. That is, it may be tough alone, but if the 13 of us are together, we can do it,” and continued, “We were each other’s teachers. We practiced, created, and gradually became better versions of ourselves. We may not be perfect individually, but we are the best team together.”
He also spoke about the not-so-smooth journey they had been through. Woozi reflected, “We couldn’t have expected the success we have now from the beginning. Rather, many negative views were saying, ‘You’re going to fail,'” and added, “The important thing was whether we could overcome these limits together or not, that was the only question left.”
Woozi cited their passion for their dreams and the existence of the members as the driving force that helped them overcome adversity. He emphasized, “Success didn’t come quickly, but the time we spent burning our passion with the 13 members was always enjoyable. The members were always cheerful and never lost their smiles,” and added, “When the members, who had different abilities and strengths in vocals, performance, and hip-hop, learned from each other and came together, the color of team SEVENTEEN began to emerge. SEVENTEEN’s unique method of teaching and learning joyfully from each other was also SEVENTEEN’s unique method of growth.”
◇Donation of 13 goats named after members, touching letter story revealed
Mingyu mentioned SEVENTEEN’s first charity activity, which made them realize the importance of sharing. Mingyu said, “In the fall of 2016, the year after our debut, we received our first settlement. It wasn’t a large amount, but we wanted to share this joy with someone,” and continued, “We gifted 13 goats named after the members to children in Tanzania, Africa.” He revealed that they were deeply moved by a letter from the children saying they would ‘raise the goats well for their dreams,’ which catalyzed them to start charity activities.
Joshua promised to expand SEVENTEEN’s sharing, which started with 13 goats, to a global scale with UNESCO. Joshua pledged, “We plan to build schools for the infrastructure of education in the third world. We will also support the continuous operation of forums for education,” and added, “As an ambassador for UNESCO, which aims to raise awareness of the importance of education, a major issue of our time, I will actively participate.”
Joshua then raised his voice, saying, “SEVENTEEN has experienced that there is a way to achieve dreams through mutual learning in solidarity. Learning can change a person, expand that person’s dreams, and even change the world, just as SEVENTEEN has done,” and “Let’s go together by learning together (Let’s make it so we’re all #GoingTogether by learning together).”
Finally, Vernon emphasized the message SEVENTEEN wants to convey to the world by reciting some lyrics from the five songs they sang that day. Vernon concluded his speech by saying, “Open a new future in the name of togetherness. If we have each other’s care, we can be everything the world needs. The moment we are together, we will become the courage of countless tomorrows,” and “That way, even if we don’t know each other, we can dance together and be happy. We’ll never lose our way and walk straight ahead if we’re together.”
◇Following the speech, five songs, including ‘God of Music,’ were passionately performed… Spreading cheerful energy
Following their speeches, SEVENTEEN lit up the UNESCO Main Hall with their musical performance. They performed a total of five songs, including “_WORLD,” “Darl+ing (ENG ver),” “Headliner,” “God of Music,” and “Let’s Go Together (ENG ver).” The stage was filled with the group’s unique, free-spirited, and cheerful energy.
The atmosphere on site was explosive. The audience stood and cheered after each performance, enjoying SEVENTEEN’s songs together. There were loud cheers, and the audience danced along to SEVENTEEN’s songs. During the ‘God of Music’ stage, all the members went down to the audience and interacted closely with them.
SEVENTEEN left a strong impression on the world by demonstrating why they could stand on this stage through their music, going back and forth between bright and emotional melodies. A UNESCO official said, “This is the first time the UNESCO headquarters Main Hall has been filled,” and added, “The audience’s reaction to SEVENTEEN’s speeches and performances is unbelievable.” The coverage heat from overseas media, including foreign correspondents and the global news agency AP, was also intense.
SEVENTEEN signed a business agreement with the Korean National Commission for UNESCO last August and has been conducting the education campaign GoingTogether (#Going together). This year, they signed a three-party business agreement with UNESCO headquarters and the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, expanding GoingTogether to a global campaign.
SEVENTEEN has emphasized through the GoingTogether campaign that youth like them can be the main agents of educational transformation. It is expected that SEVENTEEN’s positive influence, which they spoke about in this speech to expand this campaign further, will be significant.
Meanwhile, the ‘UNESCO Youth Forum’ is a program held during the UNESCO General Conference, designed to allow the younger generation to voice their opinions. It is a place to share ideas and experiences about the problems faced by the youth generation, seek solutions, and build solidarity. SEVENTEEN is the first Korean singer to hold a special session at this event.
By. Jeong Ji Won
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