This article was posted on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 10:39 a.m. on Jan. 5, 2026.
In the KOSDAQ market, the brothers Kim Ho-sun and Kim Byung-jin, who gained fame for active mergers and acquisitions (M&A), had somewhat mixed results last year. Kim Byung-jin, the younger brother known as an M&A specialist and chairman of PLAKE, bought bitcoin through the listed companies he acquired but did not make much profit as bitcoin prices fell, while the older brother, Kim Ho-sun, chief executive of GAMSUNG Corporation, saw his assets increase substantially as his hobby business, camping, sailed smoothly. Although the camping market contracted somewhat last year, GAMSUNG Corporation, which established a premium image, held up well if judged by its stock price alone.
According to capital markets industry sources on the 5th, the brothers began their activities in the KOSDAQ market in the early 2000s through start-ups and M&A. Among the brothers, Kim Byung-jin was the one who stood out early. At age 20 in 1997, Kim launched a PC-based content company, Genie Contents, and founded NoMoney Communication, tasting success as an entrepreneur from a young age. Since then, Kim Ho-sun acted only as an executive of companies that Kim, the younger brother, founded or acquired.
The brothers first stepped into the camping business after acquiring tent manufacturer LivePlex in 2006. But at that time they used LivePlex more as a source of funds than to devote themselves to the camping business. Through LivePlex they acquired Microgames, AIMMO, Rocket Mobile and others, and even attempted a hostile M&A of WEBZEN, the maker of the game "MU."
An investment banking industry official said, "In the past the two brothers always moved together," adding, "When Chairman Kim Byung-jin took the lead, CEO Kim Ho-sun would put his name on the board as an inside director and operate, so the younger brother's presence was considerable."
Their partnership ended in 2019 when Kim Ho-sun acquired GAMSUNG Corporation. Kim Ho-sun succeeded in acquiring GAMSUNG Corporation (then VirtualTech) with 18.2 billion won he had accumulated and support fire from a related company, Drion. At the time, market observers described Kim Ho-sun's acquisition of GAMSUNG Corporation as a "going it alone" departure from Chairman Kim Byung-jin.
When Kim acquired it, VirtualTech's main business of software sales had declined so much that it had to inflate sales through the sale of waste paper such as newspapers rather than rely on its core business. Through 2018 it alternated between profit and loss.
But the company situation changed completely after it began a clothing license business for the Japanese outdoor brand Snow Peak. After launching Snow Peak apparel in 2020, operating profit turned positive to 1.2 billion won in 2021, then grew rapidly to 16.2 billion won in 2022 and 32.2 billion won in 2023. In 2024 it posted a record-high operating profit of 36.1 billion won, and 2025 results are expected to break the record again.
The stock has also performed well. The stock, which was below 1,000 won at the time Kim Ho-sun acquired the company, is currently trading in the 5,700-won range. Last year it reached a high of 7,100 won. Considering that GAMSUNG Corporation's market capitalization was about 50 billion won when Kim Ho-sun acquired it, the market cap is now 520 billion won, meaning the stock has grown more than tenfold in about seven years. The current equity value of GAMSUNG Corporation held by Kim Ho-sun and related parties alone amounts to 149 billion won.
Younger brother Chairman Kim Byung-jin succeeded in making a large profit through the 2024 Kyungnam Pharm M&A, but his performance last year was lackluster. In particular, his flagship virtual asset business suffered considerable losses as bitcoin prices fell.
Last February, Kim Byung-jin acquired BitMax through a MetaPlatform investment partnership funded by Satoshi Holdings, his KOSDAQ-listed company (formerly DeepMind), and PLAKE, an unlisted corporation he owns, then entered the virtual asset treasury business. BitMax aggressively pursued a virtual asset treasury business, and its stock surged once from the 1,000-won range in early last year to the 5,000-won range in July, but as bitcoin prices declined the stock reverted to the 1,600-won range by the end of the year.
BitMax has not only seen its stock fall but is also estimated to have substantial unrealized losses. As of October last year, BitMax held about 551 bitcoins, bringing the asset valuation to 100 billion won. But bitcoin, which then traded near 180 million won, fell about 30% to around 130 million won by the end of last year. Considering the interest on funds borrowed externally to buy the bitcoin, the valuation loss compared with the purchase price is expected to exceed 10 billion won.