2021-09-20

UNGA Special Session
“Sustainable Development Goal Moment”
Opening Speech

Jin: There were times during the past two years when I, too, felt bewildered and troubled, but still here we have people who cry out, “Let’s live on!”, “Let’s make the best of this moment!”

Jimin: Because we can’t stand still when we’re in the ideal time of our lives to take on new challenges. It wasn’t as if we could blame anyone, and you must have felt the frustration. Here I’m the same as I was yesterday, but the world changed like we were transported in a flash to a parallel world.

Jung Kook: I was saddened to hear that entrance and graduation ceremonies had to be cancelled. These are moments in life you want to celebrate, and missing out on them must have been upsetting. We were heartbroken when our long-planned concert tours were cancelled, and for a while we yearned for the moments we wanted to make complete.

V: So I hope we don’t just consider the future as grim darkness. We have people who are concerned for the world and searching for the answers. There are still many pages left in this story about us, and I thought we shouldn't talk like the ending’s already been written.

SUGA: There will be choices we make that may not be perfect, but that doesn’t mean there will be nothing we can do.

j-hope: What matters is what kind of choices you make in the face of change, isn’t it? Lots of people wondered if we were vaccinated when they heard we were coming to the UN. I’ll take this opportunity to answer that question: all seven of us are vaccinated.

RM: I look at it as a kind of ticket we had to get in order to see the fans who’ve waited around for us and in order to come here. Because, like the message we’re sending today, we’re doing what we can right now. I hope we can all welcome each other, and everyone, in this new world that’s beginning.

“We’ll now perform “Permission to Dance” for you as our way to welcome everyone.”