'Freechal Founder' Jeon Je-wan, How Did He Become a Pension Cleaner?.. "Life on the Brink of Collapse" [Kko Kko Mu] [Comprehensive]

*This content was translated by AI.

The tumultuous life story of Jeon Je-wan, who wrote a first-generation venture miracle and made a mark on South Korea's IT industry, has been revealed.

On the 17th, SBS’s "Story That Follows Its Tail" (abbreviated as "Kko Kko Mu") aired an episode titled "Reply, Freedom and Challenge!" featuring guests H.O.T.'s Tony An, actress Han So-eun, and comedian Kim Hyo-jin.

In the late 1990s, in Seoul's Yongsan electronics district, Jensen Huang, who would later shake up the global tech world as the founder of NVIDIA, was personally selling graphics cards. At that time, Samsung Group Lee Geon-hui (Chairman) invited Huang to Korea with a vision to connect the entire nation via high-speed internet. After witnessing South Korea’s PC bang (internet cafe) culture, Huang became convinced of the future of the IT industry.

Following the StarCraft fever and the era of online communication, the widespread adoption of high-speed internet in early 1998 sparked a fervent dot-com venture boom across South Korea. At the center of it all was Jeon Je-wan, founder of Freechal.

A graduate of Seoul National University who joined Samsung General Trading, Jeon Je-wan quickly distinguished himself in the IT sector by computerizing Samsung Electronics' HR systems. However, during the 1997 IMF foreign exchange crisis, he left Samsung and founded a venture company named "Freedom and Challenge." At just 26 years old, he recruited top talents including Jo Su-yong, former co-CEO of Kakao, building an organization modeled after Silicon Valley standards. Tony An remarked on this achievement: "It's not easy to gather such exceptional talent in such a small company; his ability to recruit rivals that of Liu Bei from the Three Kingdoms."

Launched on January 1, 2000, the community platform Freechal experienced explosive growth. Under the goal of creating online gathering spaces just as people met offline, it leveraged a sleek UI designed by Jo Su-yong, unlimited storage capacity, and a fully free policy to surpass one million members within three months of its launch. Subsequently, over 1.1 million self-sustaining communities emerged, and the total membership exceeded 10 million. With investment from GE Capital, a leading U.S. corporation, Freechal firmly established itself as South Korea's representative IT platform in both name and reality.

However, behind this success lay massive deficits. As member numbers grew, server and hardware maintenance costs swelled like a snowball. With investment funds exhausted and the dot-com bubble bursting, securing additional funding became nearly impossible. Cornered, Jeon Je-wan proceeded with a controversial move: charging a monthly fee of 3,000 won for community creators despite strong opposition. At a time when internet services were widely perceived as free, user backlash was fierce, sparking national debate in the National Assembly and causing significant social upheaval. Ultimately, the number of communities plummeted from 1.1 million to just 400,000.

Taking advantage of this situation was PsyWorld. In 2001, when PsyWorld introduced mini-homepages, it declared itself free during Freechal's paid service controversy, absorbing a large number of defectors. With features like one-on-one connections, background music (BGM), and virtual currency "acorns," PsyWorld ignited a nationwide phenomenon, growing into a national SNS with 25 million members. The era of Freechal came to an end.

To make matters worse, in December 2002, Jeon Je-wan was urgently arrested during a fundraising effort to alleviate financial difficulties on charges of falsifying share capital contributions and embezzlement totaling over 12 billion won. He was sentenced to two years in prison. Although he attempted to rebuild after his release, Freechal ultimately faded into history amidst the rapidly changing times.

Later, in 2016, Jeon Je-wan returned as CEO of PsyWorld, his former rival, investing over 300 billion won in data recovery and revival efforts. However, he once again faced severe management difficulties and was punished for unpaid wages, marking another tragic chapter.

The entrepreneur who opened the era of South Korea's IT industry and wrote a venture miracle now lives as a pension cleaner in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, spending his days cleaning away the splendor and scars of the past.

Jeon Je-wan shared his feelings: "My life has nearly collapsed, so I'm doing cleaning here to forget my worries." In response, Han So-eun expressed regret: "It's bitter. But it was through such trials and errors that we today can enjoy IT comfortably."

Although one individual's challenge ended in tragedy, the talents he gathered and the setbacks he experienced became crucial stepping stones for South Korea to leap into becoming a global IT powerhouse.

Reflecting on the meaning of the online world of that era for us today, Tony An remarked, "It changed the world," while Kim Hyo-jin added, "It made me realize that we can connect harmoniously with anyone without meeting face-to-face." Han So-eun concluded: "Just like the name of his first company, he left behind the very meaning of 'Freedom and Challenge.'"

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*This content was translated by AI.