The Trojan Horse in Our Living Room
The massage chair, now a familiar fixture in our living room and my parents’ bedroom, quietly holds a grand epic behind it. It’s the story of an empire that cut through the old market rules with the sword of innovation and soared high on the wings of “rental.”
But beneath that dazzling throne, human greed grew like a poisonous mushroom, and the blade of betrayal flashed behind trusted allies’ backs.
This is the story of the massage chair empire, Bodyfriend. It is also our story—how an extraordinary idea becomes a myth, and how dazzling success sows the seeds of arrogance and division that ultimately destroy itself. Today, we dive into the deep, dark abyss from the empire’s birth, its cracks, to the blood-stained game of thrones.
Chapter 1: The Revolutionary’s Arrival, Opening a New World with “Rental”
Before 2007, South Korea’s massage chair market was like a quiet pond with no change. Clunky Japanese brand products costing tens of millions of won were exclusive to the wealthy. The market size was barely 20 billion won. No one imagined a massive storm would arise in this small pond.
Then came Bodyfriend, founded by former chairman Cho Kyung-hee and his son-in-law Kang Woong-cheol. Their weapon was the revolutionary idea of “rental.”
“Why buy a product worth hundreds of millions at once? Rent the best relaxation for just a few tens of thousands of won a month.”
This simple yet powerful proposal completely overturned the market. The high barrier of a lump-sum payment was broken down, and dormant massive demand erupted like a volcano. Just as water purifiers and bidets became household essentials through rental, the era of massage chair popularization blossomed.
But Bodyfriend’s innovation didn’t stop there.
“Massage chairs are not outdated medical devices but premium furniture that elevates life’s quality.”
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Under this inspiring philosophy, they partnered with Italian designers to present sleek designs that fit anywhere in the home. Placed in the glamorous penthouse living rooms of popular dramas, Bodyfriend became not a “filial piety product” but a symbol of desire for “the successful lifestyle appliance.”
They boldly set a goal to extend healthy lifespan by 10 years and poured massive investments into R&D. They developed the world’s first “sleep massage” technology and introduced “mental massage” and “brain massage” for stressed modern people, expanding the massage chair concept into mental and medical realms.
Technology, design, marketing, business model. When these four wheels perfectly meshed, the Bodyfriend tank began racing at unstoppable speed. The throne of South Korea’s healthcare appliance market naturally became theirs.
Chapter 2: The Prelude to Cracks, Shadows over the Throne
Every empire dreams of wider territory. The explosively growing Bodyfriend needed huge funds to fly higher. In 2015, the founding family made a crucial decision: they sold most of their shares, including management rights, to the private equity fund VIG Partners for about 400 billion won, stepping down to second-largest shareholder.
External capital seemed like powerful fuel for growth. But this decision was a “Pandora’s box” harboring seeds of uncontrollable disputes. The founder’s “long-term vision” to nurture the company like a child clashed with the private equity’s “short-term goal” to profit quickly and exit, starting a precarious cohabitation under one throne.
The Frustrated Dream: The Mirage of IPO
An IPO was a long-held dream for Bodyfriend. A successful listing would bring honor to the founder and huge profits to investors—a promised land. But three ambitious attempts ended with harsh rejections. Problems hidden beneath the empire’s shining armor surfaced.
- Opaque governance: The complex shareholding between founder and private equity raised doubts about corporate transparency.
- Management dispute risk: This complexity was seen as a potential powder keg for shareholder conflicts.
- Fatal owner risk: Most damaging were embezzlement and breach of trust allegations against founder Kang Woong-cheol, a red flag dreaded by the securities market.
The IPO dream evaporated. This failure left deep scars on the empire’s credibility and accelerated its fractures.
Chapter 3: Game of Thrones, Alliances Stained with Blood
As time passed, VIG Partners sought to recover its investment and found new owners. In 2022, another private equity Stonebridge Capital and the new management firm Han & Brothers joined forces to become Bodyfriend’s new owners.
Until then, founder Kang Woong-cheol seemed to dream of a comeback as the second-largest shareholder alongside the new owners. But alliances sharing power with conflicting desires have historically ended in tragedy.
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The alliance broke within a year. Just six months after acquisition, Stonebridge accused Han & Brothers of embezzlement and breach of trust, igniting a bloody civil war.
- First battle (Stonebridge & Kang Woong-cheol vs. Han & Brothers): Initially, Stonebridge and founder Kang allied to attack Han & Brothers, forcing them out of management.
- Second battle (Han & Brothers vs. Kang Woong-cheol): Defeated Han & Brothers retaliated by suing Kang on the same charges. The fight spiraled into an uncontrollable mudslinging war.
Their conflict was no longer about “who can lead the company better” but a disgraceful expose of “who embezzled more company funds.” The myth of innovation and growth vanished, leaving only a drama stained with greed and betrayal.
Chapter 4: Accelerating Decline, The Empire’s Financial Collapse
While kings pointed knives at each other for the throne, the empire’s walls crumbled helplessly. The cost of civil war was devastating.
Sales, once over 600 billion won in 2021, plunged to the 400 billion won range after disputes intensified. Operating profit, once close to 90 billion won, shrank by 81% to 16.7 billion won, eventually turning to losses.
The most painful blow was losing the market’s favor. While Bodyfriend wasted energy on internal fights, competitor Ceragem grew fiercely with a new weapon: “spinal medical appliances.” Bodyfriend even lost the industry’s No. 1 crown it once owned.
This downfall wasn’t just due to fighting. Consumers began demanding professional “treatment” functions beyond simple relaxation, and rental market competition grew fiercer. Amid fierce external storms, Bodyfriend’s captains failed to notice their ship sinking while attacking each other.
Chapter 5: From the Ruins, Can the Empire Rise Again?
Cornered, Bodyfriend is desperately dreaming of a comeback. They showcase technology with “healthcare robots” featuring independently moving legs and try to win back lost customers with lower-priced models and furniture-focused designs.
Thanks to these efforts, recent performance has shown slight improvement. But the road to rebuilding the empire is still very long.
The fundamental legal risks surrounding the founder and major shareholders remain ongoing, and the management dispute time bomb could explode anytime. Until the throne battle fully ends, any innovation may be just a castle built on sand.
Questions Left for Us
The “revolutionary” who opened a new era with innovative ideas has become a symbol of greed and division. Bodyfriend’s story goes beyond one company’s success and failure and poses weighty questions for us all.
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- What is the true meaning of growth? How fragile can success be when blinded by visible growth and neglecting transparent, ethical management?
- Is external capital a savior or a plunderer? How can the capital needed for a company’s leap damage the founder’s dream and turn the company into a speculative target?
- Where does a leader’s responsibility end? What wounds do a leader’s poor judgment and moral decay leave on countless employees and customers beyond the company?
Today, the massage chair in our living room quietly does its job. But now, we must remember the chilling lesson left by an empire’s rise and fall within that comfort. Can Bodyfriend rise again from the ruins it created? That future lies in the arduous process of answering these questions.