Wemade Faces Poor Performance, Founder Park Kwan-ho Returns as 'Relief Pitcher'

Return to Frontline Management as CEO and Chairman
Poor Performance Likely Influenced by Judicial Risks

Wemade founder Park Kwan-ho, chairman of the board, has returned to the forefront of management as CEO and chairman for the first time in 12 years. This move is widely seen as a response to Wemade's poor performance and the significant legal risks surrounding the company's issued virtual asset, WEMIX.

According to industry sources on the 15th, Wemade held a board meeting on the 14th and announced the appointment of Park Kwan-ho, the founder and chairman of the board, as CEO and chairman following the resignation of former CEO Jang Hyun-guk.

Born in 1971, Chairman Park founded Wemade in February 2000 and led the development and service of the PC online game "Legend of Mir 2," which was a hit in both South Korea and China. Since 2012, he has focused on supporting management as the company owner and chairman of the board. Chairman Park currently holds the largest stake in Wemade with 39.39% ownership.

Former CEO Jang, who led the company since 2014, will remain as vice chairman of Wemade to support Chairman Park's management efforts.

Some in the industry view Wemade's deteriorating performance as the direct reason for Chairman Park's return. Wemade has recorded losses for two consecutive years. Following an operating loss of 80.6 billion KRW in 2022, the company posted an operating loss of 112.5 billion KRW last year.

Legal risks related to the blockchain business, including WEMIX, are also believed to have influenced Vice Chairman Jang's resignation. Recently, prosecutors summoned Wemade officials for investigations related to allegations of fraud in the issuance volume of WEMIX virtual assets. Wemade has yet to escape the controversy stemming from the distribution volume issues of WEMIX that arose in 2022.

Wemade stated, "Founder Chairman Park Kwan-ho has stepped forward to practice responsible management," adding, "Vice Chairman Jang will take on an advisory role, leveraging his experience in blockchain, expansion into China, and global disputes."

Although management control has shifted to Chairman Park, there are expectations that the company will not scale back its core blockchain business. This is due to Chairman Park's strong interest and passion for the blockchain sector. In fact, Vice Chairman Jang was able to build the current WEMIX ecosystem with Chairman Park's full support. When Vice Chairman Jang purchased WEMIX monthly as part of his salary to demonstrate confidence in the blockchain business, Chairman Park also supported the effort by acquiring WEMIX worth approximately 30 billion KRW.

However, given the company's crisis, Chairman Park is likely to pursue management efficiency and cost reduction. Previously, during the loss-making period of 2014-2015, Chairman Park briefly returned to frontline management and quickly reorganized the company to overcome the crisis.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.