Joshua of Seventeen is a busy man.
On Thursday, he spent the morning suited up for a speech at UNESCO. Hours later, he’d shed that skin for hot boy summer and a front-row seat at Paris fashion week. Long story short: He isn’t moving at all like a member of a 13-person K-pop group that just announced an extended hiatus.
Seventeen is one of the top K-pop bands under the K-pop mega-agency Hybe. Joshua is the band’s key American member and one of its two English speakers, and represented the group at his third time at UNESCO.
Bringing K-pop to UNESCO
Joshua, who performs under his first name, told Business Insider the youth initiative the band’s worked on with UNESCO inspires him because it’s a “collective effort” that has opened up “a variety of doors for them to think creatively and develop their own solutions.”
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The event celebrated Seventeen’s youth initiative, “Going Together — For Youth Creativity and Well-Being” — a drive fueled by the band’s $1 million donation. It’s provided grants to 100 youth-led projects across 64 countries, with over 21,000 direct beneficiaries.
The group told Business Insider that they’ve been “deeply moved” by the work of the 100 teams.
“It is our hope that we will always be there to amplify the dreams and aspirations of youth, wherever they are,” they said.
The campaign is now in a scale-up phase that’ll last until December 2026, with 10 projects spanning work from mental health to literacy having been selected for further funding and mentorship.
Joshua also teased some future projects — he’s previously expressed interest in expanding into Hollywood and working more in fashion.
“As I’ve begun diving further into new endeavors, whether in music or beyond, I’m excited to see how I’ll grow as an artist, and I hope I can continue to share positive energy with people in everything I do,” he said.
The unit era
The star’s work in Paris coincided with his bandmates’ much-hyped album drop.
The “V8” mini album — featuring Vernon and The 8 — is the first unit release in the group’s hiatus era. They kicked it off with a listening party at a club in Seoul’s Itaewon district on June 28, and will hit arenas in Asia for a series of live shows.
Top producers from Pharrell Williams to Alice Longyu Gao have their fingerprints on the album, which features eight high-octane bops like “rat race” and the title track, “singasong.”
“We really wanted to tell an authentic story. Looking back on the times we’ve spent and how they’ve led us to who we are today, it naturally brought us to this theme — how our experiences of youth drive us forward,” the duo said in a press release.
Other Seventeen members also have work in the pipeline.
Dino, the group’s youngest, is set to debut under his alter ego, Picheolin, on August 3.
Meanwhile, vocalists Seungkwan and DK are scheduled to wrap up their “Serenade” concert tour in Kaohsiung on July 26.
