Watch: SEVENTEEN Shares Inspirational Speeches And Meaningful Performances At UNESCO Youth Forum In France

Nov 15, 2023

SEVENTEEN has made history as the 1st K-pop artist at UNESCO Youth Forum!

On November 14 (local time), SEVENTEEN held their very own session at the UNESCO Youth Forum at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. During the special session, SEVENTEEN’s Seungkwan, Jun, Woozi, Mingyu, Joshua, and Vernon took to the podium to share meaningful speeches, and the group gave uplifting performances of their hit songs “_WORLD,” “Darl+ing,” “Headliner,” “God of Music,” and “Together” to spread a positive message.

As the first speaker, Seungkwan brought up the special connection his hometown of Jeju Island has with UNESCO. Explaining that Jeju Island is recognized as a Biosphere Reserve, a Natural World Heritage site, and Global Geopark, Seungkwan shared, “Jeju Island became the first place in the world to be bestowed with all three of the UNESCO honors.” He concluded, “The little boy who dreamed of a big future from that World Heritage island now stands before you at UNESCO headquarters today.”

Member Jun took to the stage next and talked about the group’s friendship, sharing, “Because we were so far from each other, I never imagined that we could grow to become friends with our hands joined for all challenges to come.” Talking about how he overcame the the language barrier with help from the members, he shared, “We may not be perfect as individuals, but together, we are the best team SEVENTEEN.”

Next, Woozi stated, “Success didn’t come quickly, but the 13 of us spending time together and sharing our passions made every minute of the ride enjoyable.” Woozi continued, “Each of us had our own strengths, whether it was our vocals, performance, or hip hop. And as we learned from each other and came together as one, SEVENTEEN’s identity began to take shape.” To conclude, Woozi took the time to thank and highlight each member one by one.

Afterwards, member Mingyu took to the podium to talk about making meaningful donations from the money they earned as singers, mentioning the 13 goats they gifted to children in Tanzania. He reflected back on SEVENTEEN’s journey through a letter he received from the children, in which they wrote, “I’ll take care of this goat. For my dreams.” Talking about SEVENTEEN’s annual donation, Mingyu shared, “We do it because 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.”

For his speech, Joshua talked about working with the Korean National Commission for UNESCO and the #GoingTogether campaign, which is a campaign that seeks to make young people aware of the importance of education. He shared, “None of this would have been possible without CARATs, our fans, who jumped into action to help the campaign. Thank you, CARATs. We love you.” Joshua continued, “We hope that our actions through UNESCO will reach young people everywhere, from the kids on islands even smaller than Jeju to those in every corner of the world who are fostering, reaffirming, and acting on their dreams even as we speak.”

Last but not least, Vernon wrapped up by introducing the songs SEVENTEEN performed at the youth forum. Using lyrics from SEVENTEEN’s songs, Vernon shared, “Let’s open up a new future together. I care you you, you care for me, we can be all we need. Even a small action today can give people courage for many days to come… We will shine together. We’ve just met but we can dance together. If we are together. You and I are never losing our way. You and I, we will be walking straight.” He concluded, “I hope these words will feel closer to your heart after listening to our stories and our music. Thank you.”