On January 18, news of Jimin being commended as the 'Best Trainee' of his unit across the five-week training period by his Division's Commander swept the internet and had fans and non-fans alike praising him for his impressive efforts and hard work. He received this award for attaining the highest marks in the different assessments conducted during the training period and took oath on behalf of the other trainees [refer here]. 

Upon this revelation, different news outlets, domestic and international, have reported on Jimin's achievement. This includes Television News channels as well as online media publications. 

The topic gained lots of attention from the public who praised him. In fact, one of the first articles to be published on this topic immediately rose to the top of the trending articles on Naver and stayed there for over 2 hours as the #1 most viewed article on the platform. As more articles were published, Naver even created an independent section on the main news page with headlines on Jimin's news.

His award is not the only thing that has been a hot topic on the internet. Fellow recruits in the army who were in the same unit as Jimin have been posting testimonials detailing their experiences training alongside Jimin. They praised him for helping them to improve their ranking in the assessments, for giving up his allocated phone time to other recruits and for buying them food. Here is an account from a family member of one of the recruits who trained with Jimin:

“My brother always talked about Jimin helping him and others in need, always buying him extra food whenever he could to the convenience store, and giving up his cell phone time to help a few of his teammates spend time with friends, family, and loved ones. I was able to talk to people. Thanks to Jimin, my younger brother graduated in the top 10 of his class.

Because of all this, my parents went to Jimin and his parents and thanked them for being so polite. When I saw Jimin in person, he was really funny, he was tall and handsome, and his smile was really kind. The parents of other recruits also expressed their gratitude to Jimin, and Jimin seemed touched by everything.”

Aside from his kindness and humility, Jimin is also receiving praise for his excellent performance in the army, instantly earning respect from other South Korean males who have already fulfilled their mandatory service.

"When I told my husband that Jimin was recognized as the BEST trainee and was assigned to the artillery unit, his address to Jimin changed from "your favorite child" to "Jimin"... ˊᗜˋ

: My husband said that vacations are important in the military. When I told him that Jimin had a reward of 5 days and 4 nights, he immediately praised him for doing well."

His striking looks are not going unnoticed either. Many recruits pointed out how great his skin is, even wanting to know what kind of skincare routine he uses.

"His skin is so great, I want to ask him what kind of care products he uses, but his face is so bright that I give up asking for fear that I'd be slurring my own words. He's also doing well in sports. This's my first impression of him, and then I'm leaving. If you're going to tweet about it, please remember to say that I'm not very good at drawing, and he actually looks better than I do."

Jimin gives strength and support to everyone around him!