"No matter who you are, where you're from, your skin color, gender identity: speak yourself"
BTS has become the first ever Kpop group to address the United Nations.
As reported by CNN, Korean boy band BTS has become the UN’s first Kpop group to deliver a speech.
BTS addressed the UN to encourage young people to follow their own convictions and to “speak yourself.” The group’s three-minute speech was held at the launch ceremony of UNICEF’s global partnership Generation Unlimited at the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.
UNICEF and BTS had worked together in 2017 to establish the ‘Love Myself’ campaign along side #ENDviolence, which combats youth violence.
BTS group leader Kim Nam Jun AKA Kim Nam-joon said love begins with oneself. “Last November, BTS launched the ‘Love Myself’ campaign with UNICEF, building on our belief that ‘true love first begins with loving myself’,” Kim said.
Kim, who also goes by the name RM (Rap Monster), went on to say that they were touched by the response they received after launching their latest albums.
“After releasing the “Love Yourself” albums and launching the “Love Myself” campaign,” Kim said, “we started to hear remarkable stories from our fans all over the world, how our message helped them overcome their hardships in life and start loving themselves.”
“These stories constantly remind us of our responsibility. So, let’s all take one more step. We have learned to love ourselves, so now I urge you to “speak yourself,” he added.
The Kpop singer also explained how music helped him combat his fears. “I had one sanctuary, and that was music,” he said. “There was a small voice in me that said, ‘Wake up, man, and listen to yourself!” But it took me a long time to hear music calling my name.”
He urges others to share their stories and to believe in themselves. “Tell me your story. I want to hear your voice, and I want to hear your conviction,” the 24-year-old added. “No matter who you are, where you’re from, your skin color, gender identity: speak yourself.”
“I have many faults and I have many fears, but I am going to embrace myself as hard as I can, and I’m starting to love myself, little by little,” he declared.
Generation Unlimited aims to tackle “the global education and training crisis currently holding back millions of young people and threatening progress and stability” by focusing on secondary-age education.