Heo Ji-Min was born to a Korean father and Korean mother in Daejeong-Eup, Jeju-Do, South Korea in 2004. She lived with her paternal grandparents, parents, and younger brother in Jeju until she moved to Gwanak-Gu, Seoul, South Korea in 2012 at the age of eight. Her mother passed away in 2010 when Ji-Min was six years of age.
Since 2009, Ji-Min had found a big interest in being a singer after watching Girls’ Generation’s “Gee”. Though their family was a bit tight on money, Ji-Min’s father signed Ji-Min and her brother, Heo Chan, up for dance lessons. Even as an eventual trainee, she still attended her dance lessons.
For a very short time in 2013, Ji-Min moved back to Jeju to take care of her grandparents. Her younger brother ended up staying in Jeju while Ji-Min and her father bought a smaller living space in Seoul for a more affordable price.
In 2014, Ji-Min auditioned for Bighit Entertainment after watching BTS’ “Boy In Luv” music video. She initially auditioned for SM Entertainment but was rejected.
She began taking Japanese lessons from her neighbor in Seoul while training. She has now been learning for more than six years.
Ji-Min trained diligently for four years under Bighit Entertainment and became close with some of the other trainees and staff members. She trained alongside all TXT members and fellow ENHYPEN members Heeseung, Jay, Sunghoon, and Jungwon.
In 2018, Ji-Min was selected to be a participant of the survival show Produce 48. Sadly, Ji-Min placed fourteenth overall, not making the lineup. It was revealed in years later that there was rigging involved in creating the final lineup, and that Ji-Min would’ve been one of the trainees to debut in IZ*ONE, if not for the rigging.
In 2019, Ji-Min legally changed her name from Heo Ji-Min to Heo Jin. She also began attending an international school in 2019, and would’ve ended up studying abroad in America for two years starting in July of 2020 if not for Covid-19.
In early 2020, Heo Jin began to wonder if being an idol was really the right path for her. It was her dream, but after six years of training, she still hadn’t debuted. At the last minute, Jin was chosen as a participant for the show I-LAND, though she was only one of six girls on the show.
Heo Jin was already very popular from her time as a competitor on Produce 48, causing her to be the most popular girl among the six. As her popularity skyrocketed, she ranked as high as second from international votes. Her total popularity stemmed mostly from South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, the US, and Canada. She placed seventh overall, making the final lineup.
Jin gains a lot of - positive and negative - attention for being the only girl in a boy group, but she also gains a lot of love from her solo fandom, “jinsadoong”. She is considered to also be an “ace” member, and is considered to be a lead vocal, lead dancer, and lead rapper of ENHYPEN despite the team not having any positions.
Her father currently still lives in Seoul while her grandparents and younger brother live in Jeju. If given the chance, Jin would like to take a holiday and visit her grandparents and brother for a month in Jeju.
