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Thank you Mr. Secretary General, UNICEF executive directors, and all the distinguished guests from across the world.

My name is Kim Namjoon, also known as RM, the leader of the group, BTS.

It's an incredible honor to be invited to an occasion of such significance for today's young generation.

Last November, BTS launched the LOVE MYSELF campaign with UNICEF building on our belief that true love first begins with loving myself.

We've been partnering with UNICEF's end violence program to protect children and young people all over the world from violence.

And, our fans have become a major part of this campaign with their action and their enthusiasm. We truly have the best fans in the world.

I'd like to begin by talking about myself.

I was born in Ilsan, a city near Seoul, South Korea.

It is a really beautiful place with a lake, hills, and even an annual flower festival.

I spent a very happy childhood there and I was judged as an ordinary boy.

I used to look up at the night sky and I used to dream the dreams of a boy.

I used to imagine that I was a super hero who could save the world.

In an intro to one of our early albums there's a line that says, "My heart stopped when I was maybe nine or ten."

Looking back, I think that's when I began to worry about what other people thought of me and started seeing myself in their eyes.

I stopped looking up at the night skies, the stars. I stopped daydreaming.

Instead, I just tried to jam myself into the molds that other people made.

Soon, I began to shut out my own voice and started to listen to the voices of others.

No one called out my name and neither did I.

My heart stopped and my eyes closed shut.

And so, like this I, we, all lost our names.

We became like ghosts.

But, I had one thing and that was music.

There was a small voice inside of me that said, "Wake up, man, and listen to yourself."

But, it took me quite a long time to hear music calling my real name.