BLACKPINK awarded British order from King Charles

Britain's King Charles presents the members of the K-pop band BLACKPINK -- from left, Rose, Jisoo, Jennie and Lisa -- with the Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire during a special investiture ceremony in the presence of President Yoon Suk Yeol, unseen, at Buckingham Palace, London, Wednesday (local time). Reuters-Yonhap

LONDON — BLACKPINK won a British order rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences from King Charles III, Wednesday (local time), on the occasion of President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to the United Kingdom.

During a special investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, the king awarded the girl group with the Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) to acknowledge the K-pop group's role in bringing the message of environmental sustainability to the global audience as ambassadors for the U.K.'s presidency of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2021.

The MBE rewards an outstanding achievement or service to the British community. It is the lowest among five classes of British order and is awarded to people who made contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organizations, and public service.

Among musicians, the Beatles and singer Adele were awarded the honor in 1965 and 2013, respectively.

During the ceremony, Yoon praised what he said was the girl group's "impressive" campaigns to promote global awareness on climate change, and expressed hopes that BLACKPINK can continue such activities.

BLACKPINK already received praises in a state banquet attended by the king and Yoon a day earlier. During his speech, King Charles applauded the girl group's role by calling each member's name, and said he "can only admire" how they can prioritize climate issues as well as being global superstars.