"Stubbornness Prevented Him from Making Money" Witty Naver's 'Taeyangsin Grandfather' Passes Away

'Jisik-in Harabeoji' Jo Gwang-hyeon, Passed Away at 88
Active Since 2004... Wit and Knowledge in the Spotlight
"A Jisik-in of Our Era Has Left Us" Memorial

Jo Gwang-hyeon, known as the 'Jisik-in Grandfather' famous for his wise answers on the portal site Naver Knowledge-iN, passed away on the 27th at the age of 88. Since 2004 until November 10th of last year, he communicated with netizens by answering their questions under the nickname 'Nokya' (綠野) on Naver Knowledge-iN.

'Jisik-in Harabeoji' Jo Gwang-hyeon, famous on Naver KnowledgeiN for his concise yet witty answers, passed away on the 27th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

According to his family on the 29th, he passed away from old age around 10 p.m. on the 27th at a hospital in Seoul.

He was born in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, and graduated from Kyungbock High School and Seoul National University College of Dentistry. Afterwards, from 1962 to 1995, he worked as a private practitioner for 33 years, running Youngjin Dental Clinic in Jongno → Sinchon → Hongdae Entrance in Seoul. It is reported that he closed the clinic in 1998 due to worsening diabetes.

His nickname 'Nokya' is said to have been created by himself after seeing the Gimpo Plain, his hometown. In a past interview with The Hankyoreh newspaper, he said, "I was stubborn, so I didn’t make much money... There were many times I worked alone because I couldn’t even pay the nurses’ salaries," and added, "I even cleaned by myself. Still, my wife earned money, so I completely quit dentistry at the age of sixty-one."

The deceased had a total of 53,839 answers on Knowledge iN.
[Photo by Naver Knowledge iN]

He began answering questions on Naver Knowledge-iN in 2004, and as of the 29th, he had provided 53,839 answers. Among these, 27,883 answers were selected by the questioners, with an acceptance rate of 70.5%.

He attracted attention by answering questions ranging from his professional field of dentistry to everyday knowledge and even absurd questions. At one point, a netizen asked, "Who is Jo Gwang-hyeon Grandfather?" and he replied, "It’s me! Do you also speak informally to your own grandfather?" which brought laughter.

He was awarded the 'Power Knowledge-iN Award' by Naver and received the highest Knowledge-iN rank at the time, 'Sun God,' earning him the nickname 'Sun God Grandfather.' Meanwhile, he temporarily suspended his activities in February 2017 due to health issues.

Following the news of his passing, many posts of condolence have been appearing online on his blog and Knowledge-iN answers, mourning the loss of 'a knowledge person of our era.'