K-pop girl group Aespa recently spoke at the United Nations' High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development held at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
The quartet -- Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ningning -- have been promoting their music by using AI avatars in music videos, so they are often called a "metaverse girl group". Their speech "Next Generation To The Next Level" addressed that they support sustainable development both in reality and the metaverse.
Giselle, a representative of Aespa, introduced themselves by saying: "Our group, Aespa, uniquely moves between reality and virtual reality. We exist here in the real world and four of our avatar members exist in the virtual world. Together, we are often called the metaverse girl group."
Giselle added: "People are paying more attention to creating the best possible metaverse world." She then raised a question: "As the metaverse accelerates, we have to ask the question, are we working just as hard to create the best possible real world?"
Giselle continued: "The metaverse reflects reality. If our own reality is not sustainable, it would become difficult to sustain the possibilities of the virtual world. Without sustainable ecosystems or equal opportunities for quality living, there will be no real world to be mirrored. The topic of sustainable development is urgent and we believe that the next generation must support sustainable development goals in order for the world that we live in."
After the speech, Aespa played their viral video performance of their single Next Level.
Aespa performed at Coachella last April and became the first K-pop band to perform at the "Good Morning America Summer Concert Series 2022" last Friday.
