The President of the Republic of Korea’s State Visit continued at Buckingham Palace this week, where The King held a special investiture ceremony for K-Pop band, Blackpink.
Blackpink members Roseanne Park, Jennie Kim, Jisoo Kim and Lalisa Manoban were created Honorary Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBEs) to highlight their role as COP26 Advocates for the COP26 Summit in Glasgow in 2021.
The King held a special investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace. (Royal Family).
MBEs are awarded for an outstanding achievement or service to the community. This will have had a long-term, significant impact and stand out as an example to others, and honorary members are for those who are not British or Commonwealth subjects.
The group were first appointed by the UK Government as COP26 Advocates in January 2021. They were chosen for this role to encourage young people to speak up about climate change at the global UN climate change conference.
As COP26 Advocates, the K-Pop group released a number of videos which were created with the sole purpose of encouraging young people to learn more about climate change.
Their videos resulted in a larger sense of engagement from a younger audience at the Summit.
Continuing their advocacy work, Blackpink were appointed by UN Secretary General António Guterres as global Ambassadors for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG).
Blackpink were awarded MBEs today at Buckingham Palace. (UK in Korea)
As a keen advocate for tackling the climate emergency, it is safe to assume The King would have had great pleasure in giving the group their awards!
His pride in the group was echoed during Tuesday’s State Banquet, where he said, ‘I can only admire how they can prioritise these vital issues, as well as being global superstars’.
The events at Buckingham Palace was just another way of showcasing the diplomatic relationship between the UK and the Republic of Korea.
It comes after the first day of the State Visit saw a Ceremonial Welcome at Horse Guards, a special exhibition from the Royal Collection Trust and a State Banquet at Buckingham Palace.
