Minji

Minji (민지), born Kim Min-ji (김민지) on May 7, 2004 in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, became the visual center of NewJeans by doing the hardest thing in modern idol pop: making understatement look magnetic. As the oldest member, she helped define the group's low-key, sharply observed cool from the first Attention rollout in 2022. Before debut, she appeared in BTS's Permission to Dance video, then entered the ADOR era as one of the clearest symbols of Min Hee-jin's reset on girl-group styling, pacing, and image language.

Her importance to the group has always gone beyond title positions. Minji's delivery gives NewJeans much of its rhythmic bite, while her screen presence helped tracks like Hype Boy, Ditto, and Super Shy land across fashion, social media, and pop radio at once. She also became a major luxury player fast. Chanel first named her a Korean ambassador in 2023, then elevated her to global house ambassador status in 2024 across fashion, watches, and beauty.

By 2026, Minji remains central to any conversation about ADOR, HYBE, and the future of the group after the long contract dispute that reshaped the NewJeans narrative. Whatever the legal framing, her place in fourth-generation pop is already secure. She represents the moment when a quieter performance style stopped feeling niche and became the standard other teams had to chase.