Part 6 focuses on BTS member Jimin. He is one of three younger band members and was the last to join the group. Before he joined BTS, he was already an accomplished contemporary dancer. He has since been their main dancer and lead vocalist, having learned vocals after joining the group.

Park Jimin (Jimin) Enneagram Two | The “Loving” Person

I think Jimin is most likely an Enneagram Two, as do most people online who know or think they know the Enneagram. The perceptions of others, of course, does not determine your Enneagram type. At the same time, it is intriguing that whether in Korean, English or some other language, many people perceive Jimin as an Enneagram Two.

Twos want to be liked by those they want to like them, try to meet the needs of others, and attempt to orchestrate the people and events in their lives. The word orchestrate can have many meanings, all of which apply to Twos in some way: arrange, influence, help plan out, guide, and more, often behind the scenes. They prefer to not be front and center and, instead, focus on supporting others in doing well.

Essentially, Twos want to help others get their needs met, fulfill their purpose or dreams, not suffer alone or in prolonged ways, and achieve positive outcomes. Because of this, Twos offer their time, resources, emotional support, advice and more. In general, Twos are empathic, supportive, motivating, warm and generally accommodating.

The Two’s focus on others has its downsides. They can become overextended to exhaustion by doing so much for others and become distressed or angry when they feel unappreciated, even if they may not express this externally. Because they focus on others and not themselves, Twos often lose touch with their own real needs and their own true value. Unconsciously, their generosity is a way of being important to other people and what do they gain in return? Validation for their self-worth and affirmation of themselves as kind, thoughtful, and generous people.

Quotes from Jimin on Supporting Others

In these quotes from Jimin, you can read how he, like almost every Enneagram Two, focuses on other people, how important he believes it is for others to pursue their dreams and how he is there for them in this endeavor.

“Never give up on a dream you’ve been chasing almost your entire life.”
“I hope you will never give up. Remember, there is a person here in Korea, in the city of Seoul, who understands you.”
“Once your heart has been moved, it will develop into something better and positive.”

General Description of Jimin

These are words and phrases often used to describe Jimin, taken from a variety of sources, including BTS members themselves, people who have interacted with him in different ways, and my own observations from watching their videos. Jimin is experienced and perceived as charming, cute, friendly, playful, and childlike at times, with a strong desire to be liked and be everyone’s friend. These descriptions all align with Enneagram Twos. He is also affectionally described as an “angel” and a “hugging fairy” because he is prone to reaching out to his bandmates with heartfelt hugs.

One person who knows Jimin and wrote about him describes him as “adorably sassy.” This phrase caught my attention as an apt description of many Twos. People sometimes incorrectly think of Enneagram Twos as only sweet. However, I always teach that Twos can be more on the sweet side, some are more spicy, and most Twos are a combination of both. Almost all Twos have a positive outlook on life and people, and they tend to be gentle spirits; hence, sweet. Twos can also be spicy, edgy, witty, spirited and, yes, sassy. Sassy can have both positive and negative meanings, but when combined with the word “adorable,” as is the case with Jimin, it is clearly meant in a positive way.

Enneagram Twos: Attunement to Others and Kindness

Jimin is also extremely attentive to other BTS members, noticing their needs and offering them whatever he can. Twos pay a great deal of attention to others by noticing the non-verbal indicators related to how they are feeling, observing their patterns of behavior over time, and more. When BTS members were asked in a group interview which member they went to to relieve their stress, they all pointed to Jimin. Like most Twos, Jimin is known for helping others without being asked, being the person other BTS members go to for comfort, support and empathy.

From what I’ve read, Jimin also started the tradition of surprises and gift-giving within the band, although this way of showing appreciation for one another has now spread throughout BTS members. Enneagram Twos are often master gift-givers, and they especially enjoy giving surprise gifts that they believe will delight the other person. In fact, Twos even prefer giving unexpected presents to being told exactly what someone else wants. Why they do it is to show their care and affection. How they are so good at it is that Twos pay such keen attention to what someone likes, what suits them, and even what might delight them. Twos take great pleasure in selecting the gifts so if they are told explicitly what to get, their satisfaction and pleasure diminish.

As another example of Jimin’s thoughtfulness, Jimin is currently, as are all BTS members, serving their mandatory time in the South Korean military service. During their initial training period, all recruits are given only one hour of phone time on the weekends and during holidays to speak with others. Jimin gave up some if not all of his phone time to other recruits so they could connect with their friends and family. He also brought them extra food whenever he could.

Enneagram Twos: Friendliness

Jimin is most often described as a very friendly and warm person, which is how Twos are often described. It can be said that others expect Twos to always be friendly and warm, although this is not always the case. And when Twos don’t live up to this expectation, they get criticized for being cold, which is not really what this is about. I read some comments online that in person, Jimin is not as warm with people he just meets as people expect him to be. I also observed this in a video where two US women, about the same age as BTS members, went to a BTS photo shoot, although they were not musicians and didn’t know the BTS members. They expected Jimin to be one of the friendliest BTS members and were surprised that he spent some time observing them before he became warmer and friendlier.

To explain this in terms of Enneagram Twos, it can take Twos some time to warm up to strangers. There are several reasons for this. First, because they attune to others and pick up a lot of data about them, Twos like to get a feel for or a sense of someone before they interact with them. This can take some time, especially if this involves a group of people. The second issue is that people often feel it is OK to reach out and touch or hug Twos because they smile at you and appear warm and huggable. Touching or hugging a person without a prior relationship or without asking permission is actually an invasion of a person’s personal space, and Twos have to contend with this more than most other Enneagram types. In many BTS reels or videos, interviewers reach out and touch Jimin without permission. When this occurs, he says nothing, but other BTS members frown or they do something to stop this. Finally, Twos generally like people, but not everyone. When they don’t like someone for whatever reason, their warmth toward that person diminishes, while they remain polite.

Enneagram Twos: Underestimation of Their Own Value

Even though Jimin was a top student at school and has always been an excellent dancer, he has sometimes been underestimated as an artist and has underestimated or doubted his own value as an artist and a person. In these quotes from Jimin, you can read how he, like almost every Enneagram Two, is uncertain about their own value, partly because they are searching for a sense of self-worth and value from others rather than from themselves.

“I don’t think of myself as that valuable. I think of others who I love as valuable to me.”
“Please cherish me and treat me with love.”

Jimin’s minimization of his own talents can be read in his response to an interview question from W Korea on January 23, 2023:

Question: “What have you been up to lately?”

Jimin’s response: “Lately, I am working on a solo album. That’s what I have been up to. Nothing special…”

Commentary: Soon after, his solo album, “Face,” came out with his now highly successful singles, “Closer than This” and “Like Crazy,” both of which he also co-wrote. These were hardly ‘nothing special.’ Perhaps Jimin was being humble; perhaps he wasn’t acknowledging his own talent; perhaps he didn’t really know how good his solo album was because it had yet to be released. If Jimin is an Enneagram Two, this would make sense as Twos tend to get their sense of their worth based on the responses of others rather than from an inner sense of knowing whether something they’ve done is good or not.

Jimin’s Speaking Style

The following descriptions of Jimin’s speaking style are excerpted from multiple people online who understand Korean. As a non-Korean speaker, I am not in a position to confirm this information, but these descriptions, which are direct quotes, contain themes that were mentioned multiple times online by different people: “polite, slightly formal language; uses a lot of words to express himself, especially when compared to other BTS members; soft-spoken and clear except when angry; then his words get blurry.”

Although all the above descriptions are consistent with the speaking style of Enneagram Twos, the last item referring to his words becoming blurry when angry is quite common in Twos. Although Twos are an emotional, relational Enneagram type, they also repress or hold down their own emotions – fear, sorrow, joy and anger – just enough so they can still resonate with other people’s feelings without having to deal with their own emotions too deeply. As a result, when Twos do feel a strong emotion, they can often be at a loss for words to express themselves or feel highly conflicted about expressing anger directly. Because Twos are highly relationship-oriented, the often perceive conflict with others, particularly those they care about, as threatening to disrupt or sever their connection to the other person.

The following descriptions of Jimin’s speaking style are ones that can be heard whether he is speaking English or Korean. Some people have a different speaking style when they talk in their native language, but Jimin does not appear so. These descriptors were pretty universal when people made online comments and mirrored what I could hear in his speech patterns: “voice sounds delicate; speaking voice sounds sweet; soft tone; graceful speech; mesmerizing voice.” In general, Twos speak with a more gentle, inviting, and graceful voice tone.

Jimin’s Non-Verbal Behavior

Very little was said online about Jimin’s body language nor did I personally observe a wide variation in his non-verbal behavior. What is most obvious about Jimin is that he smiles most of the time. And when he smiles, he does so both with his mouth and with his eyes. The frequency of his smiling and the matching or alignment between his mouth and eyes is often seen in Twos and also contributes to their credibility as a friendly, approachable and optimistic person. He also displays a very small range of emotional responses. He does show sorrow and sadness on occasion. Fear and anxiety are sometimes apparent, but primarily seen when BTS would go on adventures that involve physical risk. Very occasionally, Jimin shows anger in some of the more casual BTS videos, but these expressions are rare. These can be explained in terms of how Enneagram Twos repress their emotions, as described in the explanation of Jimin’s speaking style.

I would be lapse not to mention the particular way in which Jimin generally moves, both on and off stage. His movements look and feel lyrical, like a poem in motion. He moves in space as if weightless.

Challenges for Enneagram Twos

There are specific areas that are challenges for Enneagram Twos. Twos get a great deal of positive reinforcement for their kindness, generosity, and ability to help and support others. Twos also seek out affirmation from others and, unfortunately, this leads to challenges to their self-esteem. In other words, when others like, approve of, or appreciate what Twos do, Twos feel very good and their self-esteem rises or inflates. However, when the opposite occurs and others do not give them positive reinforcement or, even worse, do not like what they’ve done, their self-esteem deflates. In other words, Twos place their self-esteem in the hands of others.

For Twos, then, it seems natural and easier to simply focus on other people. Focusing on themselves and on their own feelings and needs is unfamiliar territory. Twos also believe that to focus on themselves rather than others is inherently selfish and being selfish is a highly negative quality. Thus, Twos have a big challenge knowing what they need and engaging in true self-care.

Simple, Powerful Development for Enneagram Twos

Rumi Poem

Reflect on the meaning of this poem by 13th-century poet Rumi:

Love yourself completely
Return to the root of your own soul

Explore your own feelings deeply

While Twos are adept at helping other people explore their feelings, they are not good at exploring their own deeply. Ask yourself regularly “How am I feeling right now?” Make sure to answer this question each time you ask it. Getting more in touch with how you feel will help you better identify what you actually need from yourself and from others.

Learn to say NO

Twos have a very hard time saying no to other people. When they do say no, Twos can have trouble sticking to it or may say no in such a soft way that others don’t even hear it as a no. Twos can also feel guilty saying no. Recognize that saying no is strength, not selfishness. Saying no sets a boundary, one that tells others not to cross. Whenever you are about to say yes, ask yourself the first two questions: Do I really want to do this? Why do I want to do this? Then make a choice.

Watch Jimin’s music video
You can watch and hear Jimin’s music video, “Closer than This “(2023)

Watch Jimin’s dancing
This video shows Jimin dancing to I Need U (2019)

About Ginger

Ginger Lapid-Bogda PhD, author of nine Enneagram books, is a speaker, consultant, trainer, and coach. She provides certification programs and training tools for business professionals around the world who want to bring the Enneagram into organizations with high-impact business applications. TheEnneagramInBusiness.com | ginger@theenneagraminbusiness.com

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