EBS ‘Seo Jang-hoon’s The Millionaire Next Door’

“Please just give me exactly $750,000 (1,000,000,000 KRW)”

‘Seo Jang-hoon’s The Millionaire Next Door’ shines a light on the tenacity and secrets of success of ‘King of Tents’ Ra Je-geon, who overcame the despair of a ‘100% defect rate’ to seize ‘90% of the global market’.

Airing at 9:55 p.m. on the 10th on EBS ‘Seo Jang-hoon’s The Millionaire Next Door’, the program unveils the dramatic life story of ‘King of Tents’ Ra Je-geon, who changed the landscape of the global camping market with tent poles that are both light and strong.

Ra Je-geon is a legendary figure in the industry who captured a 90% share of the global premium tent pole market with high-strength aluminum tent poles he developed himself. Today, he manufactures not only poles but also tents and a range of outdoor goods, having built a global ‘luxury’ camping brand.

On the broadcast, Seo Jang-hoon and Jang Ye-won pay a visit to Ra Je-geon’s private campsite. The two experience a variety of tents, including an extra-large model equipped with a cinema room, and savor mood-rich camping dishes such as beer can chicken, enjoying a special day outdoors. Also revealed are a wind tunnel laboratory set up at Ra’s 3000-pyeong factory and a tent development room that recreates an actual campsite, drawing the eye.

Though Ra’s tent poles look simple on the outside, they are the culmination of high-strength aluminum technology completed through as many as 80 processes. Even more surprising is that he is from the ‘liberal arts’, not an engineering background. Having gone to study in the United States in 1982, Ra recalls realizing Korea’s low international standing at the time when local friends reacted in surprise, saying, “Korea, which I thought was just poor, makes cars?” Yet those prejudiced, condescending views toward Korea instead became the spark for his challenge.

Harboring the goal of creating something ‘number one in the world’, he plunged into founding a company in 1988 at the age of 34. The startup capital at the time was a hefty $750,000 (1,000,000,000 KRW), prompting Seo Jang-hoon to marvel, “In 1988, is that not an enormous amount of money?” To this, Ra reminisces, “I boasted loudly to my father, saying, ‘If you just give me exactly $750,000 (1,000,000,000 KRW), I will try to grow the company.’” There was a special reason his father, who was in the trading business, readily entrusted a large sum to his youngest son. Learning of his father’s grand intention only later, Ra shares his heavy heart: “When we became the best in the world, my father was no longer by my side.”

After handling Ra’s tent pole, Seo Jang-hoon exclaims, “It is so thin that it looks like it would give if I press hard, but it does not at all,” expressing admiration. Yet behind this success lay brutal failures. In the early days of the venture, the quality of every product he made fell markedly short, saddling him with the disgrace of a ‘100% defect rate’. Ra confides, “At first, I did not know it would be this difficult. If I had known, I would not even have started.”

As defects and losses continued and even investment funds ran dry, he recalls, “It felt like walking through a tunnel with no end in sight.” Even so, fixing his eyes solely on the goal of being ‘number one in the world’, he went to work 364 days out of 365, holed up in the factory and cut off from the world. After countless trials and errors, he finally succeeded in developing high-strength aluminum; amid an explosive response, his market share surged, and in just two to three years he stood tall as a powerhouse in the premium tent pole market. Ra adds, “From what I hear, even the industry had never experienced anything like it.”

Having captured 90% of the global premium tent pole market and even earned the epithet ‘The King of Tents’ from foreign media, Ra is a ‘tent millionaire’. Centering on poles that form a tent’s framework, he now produces a range of tents and outdoor gear; over 38 years, he has personally designed as many as 3000 tents.

The story of Ra Je-geon’s burning tenacity and challenge, which turned the despair of a 100% defect rate into a 90% share of the global market, can be seen at 9:55 p.m. on Wednesday, June 10, on EBS ‘Seo Jang-hoon’s The Millionaire Next Door’.