Korea Type 1 Diabetes Association releases new song performed by xikers; starts 100-day SNS challenge

The Korea Type 1 Diabetes Association and the Korea Pancreatic Disability Association (hereinafter Association, Representative Kim Mi-young) announced that the campaign song 'Rhythm Check (Walking Together)' for the participatory awareness improvement campaign 'Confident Companionship', supported by the Korean subsidiary of the global biopharmaceutical company Sanofi (hereinafter Sanofi), was released through various music platforms on the 3rd.

'Confident Companionship' is a participatory campaign that launched on August 6 and will continue for 100 days until World Diabetes Day on November 14. With the release of this song, the Association will begin to full-scale promote an SNS challenge in which patients and the public can participate directly.

The campaign theme song 'Rhythm Check (Walking Together)' is a song that started from the actual daily lives of diabetes patients living while receiving insulin treatment. The lyrics capture the daily lives of patients who check their blood sugar every moment and adjust insulin according to meals and activity levels. It conveys the message that even if one lives daily life with a slightly different rhythm from others, if one understands their disease accurately and engages in treatment confidently alongside those who cheer them on, they can lead a healthy daily life and achieve their dreams.

This music was produced based on the actual experiences of the Association members. The Association held songwriting workshops to discover the experiences and messages directly conveyed by patients, and professional lyricists, composers, and choreographers participated to increase the quality. The next-generation global K-POP group xikers participated in the vocals to strengthen the connection with adolescent patients, and Chloe Young, a member and leader of the girl group BADVILLAIN, participated in creating the challenge choreography, expressing the patients' confident daily lives through dance.

Along with the release of the music, the Association will launch the full-scale 'Confident Companionship Challenge' starting today. Following the official declaration of departure by the Association's management, the challenge will be carried on by AI short-form challenge videos produced by the Association, the vocalist xikers, the choreographer Chloe Young, lyricists, composers, and patients' families. Afterwards, participation in the relay challenge will be expanded to the medical community, the pharmaceutical and bio industry, and the general public, including adolescents and young adults.

This 'Confident Companionship' project was prepared on the occasion of the release of 'Sugar', a film based on a true story by Kim Mi-young, Representative of the Korea Type 1 Diabetes Association, which deals with social prejudice and understanding regarding diabetes patients. The purpose is to maintain social interest in the lives of diabetes patients and their families and to broaden empathy for the disease through content in which the public participates. Through this campaign, the Association plans to provide correct information about diabetes and insulin treatment while further increasing social understanding of the daily lives of patients.

Kim Mi-young, Representative of the Korea Type 1 Diabetes Association, said, "The stories shared by patients in the songwriting workshops have been completed into a song and choreography and have come out to the world. We hope this music becomes a medium for patients to cheer for each other's steps and becomes a first step for the general public to resolve prejudices about diabetes and insulin. We ask many people to join the 'Confident Companionship Challenge' in their own ways."

Meanwhile, detailed information on how to participate in the 'Confident Companionship Challenge' can be found on the official website of the Korea Type 1 Diabetes Association and its official SNS channels such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and blogs.

Read the original (Korean)