TWICE · CURRENT MEMBER
Jihyo
Jihyo entered JYP Entertainment as a child in 2005 and trained for approximately ten years. She was part of the cancelled 6mix lineup before Sixteen. The members, not the company, selected her as TWICE’s leader after formation. That distinction matters. Leadership was not assigned because she was oldest, she is not, but because the room trusted her to carry it.
Profile
| Birth name | Park Ji-hyo (박지효), born Park Ji-soo |
|---|---|
| Stage name | Jihyo |
| Born | February 1, 1997 |
| Birthplace | Guri, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea |
| Western zodiac | Aquarius · independent, direct and allergic to performing leadership as decoration |
| Chinese zodiac | Fire Ox · durable, disciplined and built for the long haul |
| Group | TWICE |
| Position | Leader · main vocalist · solo artist |
| Debut | TWICE: October 20, 2015 · Solo: August 18, 2023 |
| Agency | JYP Entertainment |
Official Socials
Instagram · @_zyozyo
TWICE YouTube · @TWICE
Official TWICE site
Before TWICE and the road through Sixteen
Jihyo entered JYP Entertainment as a child in 2005 and trained for approximately ten years. She was part of the cancelled 6mix lineup before Sixteen. The members, not the company, selected her as TWICE’s leader after formation. That distinction matters. Leadership was not assigned because she was oldest, she is not, but because the room trusted her to carry it.
Music, performance and the work outside the group box
Jihyo released the solo EP ZONE in 2023, led by “Killin’ Me Good.” The project leaned into groove, live vocals and a physical performance style that looked less like escaping TWICE and more like concentrating her existing strengths. She also holds writing credits across the group catalog and has spent years making encore stages feel like arguments against anyone who thinks an idol microphone is decorative.
Inside TWICE, her role changed as the catalog moved from “Like OOH-AHH,” “Cheer Up” and “TT” into “Fancy,” “Feel Special,” “I Can”t Stop Me,” “The Feels,” “Talk That Talk,” “Strategy” and THIS IS FOR. A ten-year profile should show that movement. Positions are a starting map, not a prison sentence.
The panda side quest
For the Jihyo side quest, watch live stages when the official camera is not on her. She continues performing through transitions and other members’ lines. Then watch her in competitive variety episodes, where leadership temporarily loses custody of sportsmanship.
Fandom notes and things the fact box misses
- God Jihyo: a fandom title earned through stage stamina, vocal power and the expression of someone who takes the last chorus personally.
- Ten-year trainee: half her life had already been shaped by JYP before TWICE debuted.
- Leader, not babysitter: she manages the group without pretending nine adult women need one permanent mother.
- Thomas: her dog appears often enough to have his own constituency.
ZONE and Jihyo as a solo artist
Jihyo made her official solo debut on August 18, 2023 with the mini album ZONE. The title “Killin’ Me Good” gave her a groove-led pop track that depends on control more than vocal fireworks. That choice suited her. TWICE listeners already knew she could power through a chorus; the solo project had to show what she does with space, rhythm and a camera that is not cutting to eight other members.
The album includes “Closer,” “Wishing on You,” “Don’t Wanna Go Back” with Heize, “Room,” “Nightmare” and “Talkin’ About It” with 24kGoldn. Jihyo participated in writing several tracks, helping the record sound like an extension of her musical instincts rather than a company-built audition reel. “Room” became a particular fan favorite because its warmth and pacing show how convincing she can be without the usual stadium-scale attack.
ZONE also clarified the difference between Jihyo the leader and Jihyo the recording artist. Leadership is a responsibility inside TWICE. Solo music is where she can be less responsible for balancing nine identities and more interested in one emotional point of view. Both sides use the same discipline, but they do not have to sound alike.
Leadership, vocals and performance craft
Jihyo trained for roughly ten years before TWICE debuted. That history is often reduced to inspirational trivia, but it explains the technical habits fans can actually see: stable breath under choreography, clear entrances, fast recovery after movement and constant awareness of the whole stage. She was selected as TWICE’s leader by the members, not simply assigned the title because she trained longest.
Her voice is one of TWICE’s central structural tools. Producers often use her to lift a pre-chorus, anchor a chorus or deliver the line that makes the final section feel larger than the first. On stage, her eye contact and full-body commitment turn even small gestures into readable choices. “God Jihyo” is fandom exaggeration with observable evidence underneath it.
Leadership should not be confused with permanent emotional labor. Jihyo can organize, speak for the group and read a room without becoming the fictional mother of eight adult colleagues. The useful story is that TWICE built a working leadership culture over time, especially through health breaks, touring pressure and contract decisions that required the members to think beyond a normal seven-year idol timeline.
THIS IS FOR, the tenth anniversary and the 2026 tour
Jihyo entered TWICE’s second decade as both the group’s leader and one of its clearest performance anchors. The fourth Korean studio album THIS IS FOR arrived on July 11, 2025, followed by the tenth-anniversary era and a 360-degree world tour that continued through 2026. JYP’s published planning materials described the tour as a 73-show, 43-region campaign, including 35 North American dates in 2026, while the official TWICE notice board listed the THIS IS FOR World Tour Finale in Seoul for June 2026.
This activity is important to her status line: Jihyo remains a current TWICE member under JYP Entertainment as of August 2026. Her solo debut did not replace group work. It added a separate catalog and performance identity alongside her responsibilities in TWICE.
Songwriting and recorded identity
Jihyo’s credits extend beyond singing assigned lines. Across TWICE releases she has written lyrics for songs including “Eye Eye Eyes,” “Ho!,” “Sunset,” “Girls Like Us,” “Get Loud,” “Up No More,” “First Time,” “Cactus” and “Trouble.” Her solo EP ZONE made that authorship more visible: she took part in writing five of its seven tracks, including “Closer,” “Wishing on You,” “Room,” “Nightmare” and “Talkin’ About It.” Those credits show a recurring interest in direct emotional framing, rhythmic phrasing and songs that leave room for vocal texture instead of treating power notes as the whole point.
Her main-vocal role is easiest to hear structurally. TWICE songs often position Jihyo where a section needs weight: the entrance to a chorus, a bridge that must reconnect the song, or the final lift after dense choreography. Her strength is not simply volume. It is the ability to keep pitch, breath and intention connected while moving, then make the transition look conversational rather than mechanical.
Acting, OST work and individual visibility
Before her idol debut, Jihyo appeared as a child model and later spent years training across singing, dance and stage presentation. As an adult artist, her individual work has included variety appearances, editorial campaigns and soundtrack participation. In 2025 she joined Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung for “TAKEDOWN,” a TWICE-unit recording connected to KPop Demon Hunters. The song sits in both her member discography and TWICE’s broader collaboration history; it should not be mistaken for a separate group.
Her 2026 official activity also includes TWICE’s RED WHISPERS Season’s Greetings campaign and the group’s continuing tour cycle. A birthday notice published by TWICE on February 1, 2026 provides a simple but useful current-status checkpoint: the official group site continued to present and celebrate Jihyo within the active nine-member lineup.
How to identify this profile correctly
This page covers Park Ji-hyo, born Park Ji-soo, the leader and main vocalist of TWICE. It is not a profile for another performer named Jihyo, and the stage name should not be expanded into an invented surname. Search results sometimes flatten TWICE leadership, solo music and fan nicknames into separate identities; here they belong to the same artist record.
August 2026 checkpoint: current TWICE member, active group leader, JYP Entertainment artist and solo recording artist. Group tenure is 2015–present; her solo catalog begins in 2023 with ZONE.
Official Jihyo video tracking
The tracker covers Jihyo’s official solo music video and her credited TWICE soundtrack collaboration, with local WordPress thumbnails and daily and total YouTube views.
RaeRae take: Jihyo performs like she is trying to repay ten trainee years in every chorus. That intensity could become exhausting if it were empty force. It works because she knows where the song is going. The big voice, shoulders, eye contact and breath control are all serving the same destination.