K-pop girl group aespa delivers a speech on sustainability during a United Nations forum in New York on July 5. Photo courtesy of SM Entertainment

Girl group aespa delivers speech on sustainability & metaverse

Midway through this week, K-pop girl group aespa was invited to speak at the United Nations’ high-level political forum on sustainable development in New York.

aespa is a four-member girl group that debuted in 2020 with the single “Black Mamba.” Included its members are Krina, Giselle, Winter, and Ningning.

 “The metaverse reflects reality. If our own reality is not sustainable, it would become difficult to sustain the possibilities of the virtual world,” its member Giselle said.

“Without sustainable ecosystems or equal opportunities for quality living, there will be no real world to be mirrored.”

In fact, this is not the first time for a K-pop group to make a speech at United Nations sessions.

Seven-piece boy group BTS was invited to the United Nations gatherings three times for speeches in 2018, 2020, and 2021.

In 2021, the music act delivered a Korean-language speech, and its real-time broadcast on YouTube attracted almost 1 million viewers from across the world.

BTS has been the world’s largest boy band, but recently they announced to suspend group performing and seek instead solo careers.

Observers point out that the brisk invitations of K-pop stars demonstrate the heightened status of Korean culture.

“The United Nations has let many famous entertainers or actors speak during its events. But mostly, they were from Western countries,” Prof. Seo Yong-gu at Sookmyung Women’s University said.

“But K-pop stars have come to the fore during the past few years because they drew such big attention. Hopefully, the trend continues in the future.”

Indeed, included in the invitees of the United Nations were Leonardo DiCaprio and Emma Watson in 2014 and Stevie Wonder in 2016.
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