Park Ji-min, also credited as Jimin Park and Jamie, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and television host. She is best known as the winner of the first season of K-pop Star and as a former member of the vocal duo 15& and the project group M.O.L.A. She is also a co-host of the variety showAfter School Club.
Early life and education
Park Ji-min was born on July 5, 1997 in Daejeon. She lived in Thailand for eight years and went to Garden International School Bangkok where she was known as Jamie. Her family currently lives in Seoul. Park speaks Korean, fluent English, and basic Thai. She has graduated at the Hanlim School of Performing Arts alongside group member Baek Yerin, as well as label mate Yugyeom of Got7 in 2016.
Career
''K-pop Star'' and 15&
In 2011, Park participated in the first season of competition television showK-pop Star. Park later finished in first place in the competition and had the opportunity to sign with YG, SM or JYPE. On May 21, 2012, Park officially chose to sign with JYP Entertainment. Park also received a brand new Hyundai i40 and 300 million won, was cast in a drama, and was also given an opportunity to sign a contract as a CF model. On September 19, 2012, it was announced that Park would debuting with a duo along with Baek Yerin. Park officially debuted with duo 15& with released digital single "I Dream" on October 5, 2012 and making official debut stage on the music program Inkigayo on October 7. 15& eventually went on hiatus after February 2015 and de facto disbanded following Park's departure from JYP Entertainment.
Solo career
In July 2014, Park became a co-host for Arirang TV's After School Club. On March 31, 2015 Park Jin-young revealed that Park would make her solo debut. She released her debut single "Hopeless Love" on April 5 with the name Jimin Park and made her debut stage before the finals of K-pop Star 4 on the same day. On May 19, 2015 producer group Sweetune revealed that Park and Eric Nam would release a duet called "Dream" for Charity Project. The song was released on May 28, 2015. On August 14, 2015, Park announced a project group she had formed with Seung-youn of UNIQ and rapper Nathan. Their group name was later revealed to be M.O.L.A, and they released their first track "My Way" on August 20. Their second song "Trick or Treat" was released on October 31, where Jimin made her second recorded comeback as a rapper. On August 23, 2016, Park released her first EP 19 to 20 with the lead single 'Try'. Due to Naver's V-LIVE, Park stated that 19 to 20 is about "her story" and hoped that her fans would be able to connect to her better and build a stronger relationship with her first self-composed album. On September 4, 2018, Park released her second EP Jiminxjamie, where she participated in the composition for majority of the tracks. Following the expiration of her seven-year contract with JYP Entertainment, Park left the company on August 6, 2019. On April 21, 2020, it was announced that Park has signed an exclusive contract with Warner Music Korea, and will continue to promote as Jamie.
Charity work
In October 2012, Park donated 50 million won to Hanbit Performing Arts Company for blind musicians. She became interested in the program after meeting with fellow K-pop Star contestant Kim Soo-hwan, who currently attends the Hanbit Performing Arts Company. Park shared, “The Hanbit Performing Arts Company hosts young, elementary school students as well as professional performers. Although they are blind, they are musicians who are performing with amazing talent. I want to be at least a small help to those who have the same love for music that I have.” She also donated 50 million won to World Vision. On May 28, 2015, Park collaborated with singer Eric Nam for their song, "Dream", produced by Sweetune. They revealed all profit made from the song would be donated to charity.
