Modular housing entrepreneur Park Jung-jin builds houses in 4 hours

Modular housing entrepreneur Park Jung-jin, whose company has reached a 240 billion won valuation, can complete a 40-pyeong house in just 4 hours. After recovering from 4 billion won in debt, Park now utilizes a 6,000-pyeong factory with robot automation to produce affordable homes.

[Seo Jang-hoon's Millionaire Next Door]

The EBS program "Seo Jang-hoon's Millionaire Next Door" highlighted the turbulent life of modular housing entrepreneur Park Jung-jin. His determination to build a multi-billion won company starting from 10 million won, his resilience in overcoming crises, and his conviction to provide abundant housing to more people left a deep impression.

The episode aired on the 28th featured Park Jung-jin, a "millionaire who builds two houses a day." As a modular housing entrepreneur, Park manufactures houses in a factory and only performs assembly on-site; his company reaches 15 billion won in monthly sales with a valuation of 240 billion won. Around his factory, various types of modular houses are displayed like merchandise. Seo Jang-hoon and Jang Ye-won expressed curiosity at the unfamiliar sight of houses wrapped in plastic being delivered like parcels after customers select them as if shopping. The greatest strength of modular housing is its reasonable price. Due to mass production in factories, costs are lowered to a level of approximately 5.5 million won per pyeong. Park stated, "A 40-pyeong house can be obtained in the low 200 million won range, and a 10-pyeong house can be obtained in the mid 40 million won range." The overwhelming production speed is also a major attraction; two 40-pyeong houses can be completed in just 8 hours, meaning one house can be built in 4 hours.

Park Jung-jin's path to his current success has been a rollercoaster. After graduating from university, he worked at construction sites and saved 10 million won to start a civil engineering design office at age 29. By working intensely with only two hours of sleep per week, he earned 2 billion won within three years of starting the business. He later saw continued success, earning 10 billion won in two years through a business building and selling country houses. However, his rapid success was interrupted when he was betrayed by people he trusted while expanding his business scale, leaving him with 4 billion won in debt. Despite the desperate situation, Park did not give up. He restarted as a one-person company, borrowing a desk at a senior's office with only a laptop. By challenging the house-building business again based on his accumulated experience, he successfully made a comeback, paying off all his debts and growing into a company with 50 billion won in sales in just four years.

The inspiration for Park Jung-jin to turn to the modular housing business came from a special experience at a kimbap restaurant. At the time, he was struggling to manage approximately 50 sites scattered across the country. While watching four employees at a kimbap restaurant divide roles to make kimbap, he had a change in perspective. He determined that "if houses are also built in a factory and managed in front of one's eyes, both defects and quality issues can be resolved." Currently, at Park's 6,000-pyeong scale factory, a state-of-the-art robot automation line realizes high accuracy and systematic quality control, opening new possibilities for house building. Park's goals extend beyond business success. He revealed a plan to "make temporary disaster housing and lend it free of charge to affected residents when disasters occur." Furthermore, he expressed an ambition to surpass leading companies in the United States and supply the cheapest housing in the world. His conviction to "increase quality and lower prices so that more people can enjoy an abundant living environment" left a lasting impression.

EBS "Seo Jang-hoon's Millionaire Next Door" airs every Wednesday at 9:55 PM and can be viewed on OTT platforms such as Netflix and Wavve after the broadcast.

Read the original (Korean)