Dreamwiz.com was one of South Korea’s early internet portals, founded in 1999 by Lee Chan-jin (of Hangul word-processor fame) as a search and community platform to compete with the emerging Korean web. It offered a free consumer email service at @dreamwiz.com alongside search, blogs, forums, and later a suite of desktop utilities. Dreamwiz officially discontinued its email service on July 30, 2019, alongside broader retirement of Dreamwiz messenger and knowledge search. The @dreamwiz.com domain still exists but no longer hosts an active consumer mailbox. If you had a @dreamwiz.com address and cannot understand why your mail client stopped working, this guide covers what happened and how to migrate to a modern Korean or international provider.
Dreamwiz Mail is discontinued: no working settings exist
Service shutdown: July 30, 2019. Dreamwiz Mail was retired as part of the wider retreat from portal services that also closed Dreamwiz messenger (August 2010) and knowledge search (June 2010). No SMTP, IMAP, or POP3 configuration will connect: mail infrastructure has been decommissioned, authentication no longer works, and the @dreamwiz.com domain does not accept new mail. No port change, TLS setting, or username variation will fix this. The migration options below are the only path forward.
What happened to Dreamwiz Mail
Dreamwiz launched in 1999, founded by Lee Chan-jin after his retirement from Hancom (creator of the Hangul word processor). The portal launched in an era when Korean internet was rapidly expanding and free consumer email was one of the primary drivers of portal traffic. In 2002, at its peak, Dreamwiz was ranked fourth in Korean web access and fifth in portal rankings, competing with Naver, Daum, and Nate. It merged with Intizen in 2004 and added community features, blogs, and its Hantools suite of desktop utilities (Hangok music player, HanCapture image tool, Hanzip compression, HanSSI viewer).
The Korean portal market progressively consolidated onto the three dominant players: Naver, Daum (later merged with Kakao), and Nate. Dreamwiz did not have the scale to compete on modern webmail features, mobile experience, or spam filtering, and its share eroded through the 2010s. Individual services were retired in sequence: knowledge search shut down on June 1, 2010, and Dreamwiz Genie messenger shut down on August 1, 2010.
The consumer email service, Dreamwiz Mail, held on longer but was officially discontinued on July 30, 2019. Users were notified in advance and given time to export historical messages. From that date, @dreamwiz.com stopped accepting new mail and stopped authenticating existing credentials against the mail servers. The Dreamwiz portal continues to exist in a minimal form (search redirect, data room) but consumer email is not part of the current product.
Option 1: Migrate to Naver Mail (largest Korean provider)
If you want a Korean-hosted mailbox with local-language interface and support, Naver Mail at mail.naver.com is the default choice. It is the largest Korean webmail service and integrates with the wider Naver ecosystem (Naver Cafe, Blog, Cloud).
1. Sign up at naver.com
Create a Naver account. The signup flow is in Korean; if you do not read Korean, use browser translation or seek a Korean-speaking helper.
2. Activate Naver Mail
Naver Mail is enabled by default with the account. Your @naver.com address is your username followed by @naver.com.
3. Configure IMAP or POP3 in your mail client
Naver publishes standard IMAP and SMTP settings. IMAP hostname is imap.naver.com port 993 SSL; SMTP is smtp.naver.com port 465 SSL or 587 STARTTLS. You must enable IMAP or POP3 access from within the Naver Mail settings (it is off by default for security).
Option 2: Migrate to Daum Mail (now Kakao Mail)
Daum Mail is the historical Korean webmail service now operated under Kakao ownership. After the 2014 Daum-Kakao merger, new Daum mail signups now go through Kakao account creation, with an option to add Daum mail alongside Kakao mail. Existing @daum.net, @hanmail.net, @hanmail2.net, @paran.com, and @hanmir.com addresses continue to work through the same infrastructure.
1. Create a Kakao account
Sign up at kakao.com. The Kakao account is the identity used across Kakao services including Daum Mail.
2. Add Daum Mail to the Kakao account
From within Kakao settings, add Daum Mail. This provisions a @daum.net address.
Option 3: Migrate to Gmail (international)
If you want a provider-independent address, Gmail is the standard destination. Especially useful if you are outside Korea or want an address that works globally.
1. Create a Gmail account
Go to gmail.com and set up a fresh account.
2. Send a change-of-address notification
Since Dreamwiz infrastructure is not a live service to import from or forward through, the practical action is a mass notification from the new address to your contact list.
Alternatives at a glance
Common issues after the Dreamwiz Mail shutdown
Mail client returns connection refused for dreamwiz.com servers
Dreamwiz mail infrastructure was retired on July 30, 2019. Any client still configured for pop.dreamwiz.com, imap.dreamwiz.com, or smtp.dreamwiz.com will fail at the network level.
Cannot sign in to Dreamwiz webmail
The Dreamwiz Mail interface was retired with the service. Old bookmarks pointing at mail.dreamwiz.com do not resolve to an active login page.
@dreamwiz.com address stopped receiving mail
Any mail sent to the address bounces at the sender’s server or is silently discarded. Notify contacts of your new address.
Cannot recover old Dreamwiz messages after 2019
Dreamwiz provided an export window before the July 2019 shutdown. If you did not export at the time, the historical mail is not recoverable from the server side.
MX lookup shows dreamwiz.com is still valid
Some verification tools report the domain as valid because DNS and SPF records are still present. This does not mean the consumer mail service is active; it means the domain is administratively registered. The actual mailbox authentication is not maintained.
Frequently asked questions
When exactly did Dreamwiz Mail shut down?
July 30, 2019. Dreamwiz gave advance notice and provided an export window before decommissioning the consumer email service. The wider Dreamwiz portal (search redirect, data room) continues to exist in a reduced form.
Can I still use my @dreamwiz.com address?
No. The consumer mail service was discontinued on July 30, 2019. There is no active mailbox to receive mail or to authenticate against for a mail client.
What are the correct Dreamwiz SMTP or IMAP settings?
There are no current working values because the service is discontinued. Configure your mail client for Naver, Daum/Kakao, Gmail, or another active provider instead.
What is the best Korean replacement for Dreamwiz?
Naver Mail is the largest Korean webmail service and the default choice for a Korean-hosted mailbox. Daum Mail (now under Kakao) is a strong second option, especially if you use Kakao messenger. Both are free.
Can I export old Dreamwiz mail?
Only if you exported it before the July 2019 shutdown using the export tools Dreamwiz provided. There is no post-shutdown recovery path because the underlying mail infrastructure was decommissioned.
Why do some email checkers still say dreamwiz.com is valid?
Domain-level tools that check DNS, SPF, and MX records may report the domain as syntactically valid because those records still exist. This is not the same as a functioning consumer mailbox. Actual authentication and delivery are not maintained.
Where to go next
Dreamwiz Mail’s shutdown is part of the broader consolidation of Korean webmail onto Naver, Daum/Kakao, and international providers. If you are dealing with a similar migration from another retired Korean or international portal, related guides:
- Paran.com legacy email setup via Daum servers
- Naver Mail POP3, IMAP, and SMTP settings
- Daum Mail POP3, IMAP, and SMTP settings
- Gmail POP3, IMAP, and SMTP settings
Historical timeline of Dreamwiz
- July 30, 2019: Dreamwiz Mail consumer email service officially discontinued. Mail infrastructure retired.
- February 2017: Dreamwiz reorganizes its site interface and releases the 1Gram Player media application.
- July 2012: Neo V (online advertising platform) acquires Dreamwiz.
- August 1, 2010: Dreamwiz Genie messenger service discontinued.
- June 1, 2010: Dreamwiz knowledge search service discontinued.
- 2004: Dreamwiz merges with Intizen. Adds community features and mania community services.
- 2002: Peak popularity. Ranked fourth in Korean web access and fifth in portal rankings.
- June 1999: Dreamwiz founded by Lee Chan-jin as a South Korean internet portal, bundling search, free consumer email, and community services.
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About the Author
Alaa · LinkedIn
Email infrastructure specialist with 8+ years of hands-on experience in SMTP, deliverability, and email verification. I’ve configured and troubleshot mail systems across Postfix, Exchange, and cloud relays, managed IP reputation and warmup campaigns, and built verification pipelines processing millions of addresses. My work spans DNS authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, BIMI), bounce handling, blocklist monitoring, and compliance frameworks including CAN-SPAM and GDPR. I write every article on SMTPedia to give email professionals, developers, and marketers the accurate, RFC-grounded reference they need.
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