As the COVID-19 pandemics hits most of the worlds, South Korea has done a very good job in mitigating the spread. But that doesn’t mean that South Korea is safe, or not going through the same issues that most of Asia is. So to give back and help remind Asian youth of the dangers, a K-Pop project in concert with UNESCO recently released a video called “Be The Future.” Think of this as K-Pop to the rescue.
The music video — starring Millenasia Project, a project band composed of K-Pop artists AleXa, Dreamcatcher and IN2IT — was created in partnership with the Varkey Foundation, as a member of UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition.
According to UNESCO, 1.5 billion students across the planet have been affected by school and university closures due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In direct response, UNESCO launched the Global Education Coalition to facilitate inclusive learning opportunities for children and youth during this period of sudden and unprecedented educational disruption.
Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director General for Education at UNESCO, said, “I am delighted that these K-pop artists have united to send an important message about staying safe during this global pandemic. Our Global Education Coalition is determined to do all it can to facilitate inclusive learning opportunities for the 1.5 billion students and youth across the planet that have been affected by school and university closures due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Crucially, we’re determined to put the teacher voice at the heart of our mission to give every child their birthright; a good education.”
The Varkey Foundation, which established the annual US $1 million Global Teacher Prize to shine a light on the global teaching profession, was also excited to partner on the new music video.
Sunny Varkey, Founder of the Varkey Foundation and Global Teacher Prize, said: “This music video is a fantastic way to ensure important messages about COVID-19 reach young people throughout the world. I am delighted that this video features 2020 Global Teacher Prize finalist Yun Jeong Hyun, highlighting how teachers across the world continue to inspire, even as the world shifts under their feet. Now, more than ever, we must shine a light on the world’s teachers.”
The music video was created to remind young people that whilst they may not have symptoms of the virus, they can still transmit it to family or extended family members.
“With hundreds of million fans around the world, K-Pop has proven to be a global sound for music,” Keiko Bang, CEO of Millenasia, said. “We really wanted to make sure we were able to use a medium that would be family-friendly, but more importantly resonated with the youth.”
This is one of the first times K-Pop has been used as part of a UNESCO initiative and is a tribute to the medium which has accumulated more than an estimated 400 million fans in over 230 countries and regions worldwide. “Be The Future” delivers a universal and profoundly important message that will resonate with people from all walks of life.
The Millenasia Project band was filmed and recorded just outside of Seoul, South Korea in late April with the production exercising best practices for social distancing at work. The music video collaboration was conceived, produced and released by Millenasia in just 4 weeks with composition, lyrics and choreography turned around in just 2 weeks.