Let’s Meet the Queen, Twice’s Leader, Park Jihyo
There must be something wrong if you’re into K-Pop but don’t know who Twice is. The girl-group that made its debut under JYP entertainment consists of 9 pretty and talented members. After the day that they debuted with a song called “OOH-AHH” in 2015, Twice gained a lot of popularity inside and outside Korea. They’ve also made a huge impact on the Japanese music industry, and even held a dome tour in some cities in Japan.
However, we’re not going to talk about Twice, in general, in this article. Instead, we’re going to talk about that one important person who will always be there for the other Twice members and who is always concerned for Once, the fandom name for Twice’s fans.
It’s Jihyo, everyone. The leader/mother figure in Twice that always takes care of the members.
Jihyo is not the eldest member in Twice. She was born on February 1, 1997 in Guri, South Korea. Although Jihyo is ranked fifth in terms of age order in Twice, she was chosen as the leader because she spent more years as a trainee than anyone in Twice. She even got trained in JYP entertainment way before some of the 2PM or Miss A members. Since she was selected as a trainee at a very young age and was trained for almost ten years, she was chosen as the leader of Twice without a doubt.
Now you must be wondering about Jihyo’s backstory, what she is like, and how she does as the leader of her group. Well, worry not, just scroll down to find out more about our leader, Park Jihyo!
Jihyo’s Full Profile and Facts
- Name: Jihyo
- Born Name: Park Jisoo
- Full Name: Park Jihyo
- Stage Name: Jihyo
- Birth date: February 1, 1997
- Born: Gyeonggi-do
- Zodiac Sign: Aquarius
- Position: Lead vocalist, lead dancer, leader
- Education: Cheongdam High School
- Specialty: Aegyo, mimicking Thomas from “Thomas and his Friends” tv show, singing, etc.
- Trainee years: 10 years
Jihyo’s Pre-debut Days
Jihyo spent the longest time as a trainee at JYP Entertainment, when compared to other idols in Twice, GOT7, DAY6, and even Stray Kids or ITZY. Being a trainee since she was a third grader in elementary school, Jihyo has been friends with other senior idols that debuted before her in JYP Entertainment, such as Wonder Girls, 2AM, 2PM, and even Miss A.
So it is not weird to see that Jihyo seems close to 2PM members. There were also some videos of her and senior idols just talking or joking around around comfortably. Jihyo is so lucky to have 2PM as her reliable oppas.
There were also rumors that Jihyo was supposed to be in Miss A along with other Miss A members, such as Fei, Jia, Min, and Suzy. However, the time wasn’t right and Jihyo had to wait a little more.
Even so, Jihyo made good relationships with the trainees that were way older than her, and even debuted faster than she did, while she had to wait until the right timing.
In the photo above, Jihyo is the only little girl in the photo, posed in the middle, while the other trainees are mature teenagers. It feels so surreal to see Jihyo with other trainees that mostly debuted as second-generation idols, such as 2AM, 2PM, Wonder Girls, and Miss A members. There are also some other idols that later on debuted in other agencies, such as female soloist Hyuna, Dongwoon of Highlight, etc.
Jihyo also had a good relationship with Taecyeon, who is almost ten years older than she is. The clip below was recorded by Taecyeon (you can hear his voice in the background, after getting hit by little Jihyo). They were so cute back then!
https://twitter.com/i/status/1086253333139009536
Even now, Jihyo and Taecyeon still share some cute interaction sometimes. When Jihyo was having a birthday, Taecyeon, who was still in the military service, congratulated her on Twitter by teasing her as a “senior JYP trainee”, since Jihyo literally joined as a trainee way before Taecyeon.
Not only Taecyeon, Jihyo also had a good relationship with other ex-trainees that have debuted as a member of various idol groups. Some evidence of that is when Jihyo posted a picture on Instagram, showing her pretty and cute face, just like a child. Sunmi couldn’t handle it, and left a comment as soon as she saw it.
In the comment, Sunmi said that the photo reminded her of Jihyo when she was a baby, with a tearing eyes emoji. They must have shared a precious moment together back then!
Let’s see more proof of Jihyo who trained with other second gen idols.
#welovejihyo #Nichkhun, #Suzy, #Sunmi, #Jokwon talk about JiHyo💕💖😍 pic.twitter.com/nr7Dblnifm
— twice fans club (@TwiceFansClub) January 11, 2016
It was a pity knowing that Jihyo could only wait, while her fellow trainee friends debuted in girl-groups or boy-groups and became famous K-pop idols. A lot of other trainees came and went while Jihyo patiently waited and kept improving her skills to become a proper idol.
However, due to her patience, she finally perfected all the skills and talents that she could have while she was waiting to debut. In 2015, Jihyo appeared as one of the participating trainees in SIXTEEN, a TV Program from JYP Entertainment that was aired on Mnet to search for a fixed lineup for JYP’s new girl-group. Later on, Jihyo was chosen as one of the members that succeeded to debut, and even became the leader in Twice.
As Jihyo was patiently waiting to debut, she made a lot of contributions in JYP Entertainment projects, such as appearing in Miss A’s music video, “Only You”, a song that released in 2014, along with other JYP Entertainment female trainees that later on debuted as Twice members, as well.
Jihyo also appeared in INNISFREE’s ads, along with Nayeon and other JYP Entertainment female trainees. She and the others were promoting a product called TN. Let’s take a look at some photos of young Jihyo along with Nayeon.
As a trainee, Jihyo was closest to Nayeon and Jeongyeon, since the three of them are around the same age. Both Nayeon and Jeongyeon also spent quite a long time as trainees, even though it wasn’t as long as Jihyo did. Let’s take a look at some pre-debut photos of them when they were still trainees.
Seeing pre-debut photos of Jihyo, we can say that her beauty is so natural. Don’t you think? Her big eyes were already sparkling so brightly when she was a little girl. She was a pretty little princess that turned to be a goddess, now. Jihyo continues to wow us with her inevitable beauty.
