Born in Ganghwa-gun, Incheon, he graduated from Ganghwa Middle School and Ganghwa High School. He graduated from Ajou University and accepted an offer to join Pohang Steelers, making his professional debut.
Club career
From his debut season, he scored two goals despite being a defender, attracting attention as a goal-scoring defender, and starting in 2007, he began playing as a solid starter and played a leading role in the team's league championship that season. He also scored a goal with a head in a 2-1 semi-play-off win over arch-rivals Ulsan Hyundai.
In 2009, he was appointed as the team captain at Pohang and continued its success by winning the AFC Champions League, placing 3rd in the FIFA Club World Cup, and finishing 2nd in the K-League Regular League.
He was at the peak of his career to the point where he pushed for an overseas transfer, but he switched to Suwon Samsung Bluewings midway through the 2010 season, but due to injuries in the middle of the season, he was absent frequently and was pushed out of the starting eleven.
He was traded with Jo Dong-Gun to join Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, there he only played 9 games in 3 years, in 2013 he undergoing surgery and rehabilitation for a chronic injury.
After a year of rehabilitation Jae-Won made a comeback at Chungju Hummel, and moved to Daegu FC in 2016. As injuries became more frequent, it seemed like he was repeating the nightmare of injuries of the past.
At Daejeon he failed to play in a single game in the 2019 season, and his contract with Daejeon Citizen was terminated and he retired after that.
International career
Due to his performance in the 2007 season, he was selected by then national team coach Huh Jung-moo in 2008 and made his debut against Chile. Also he scored a dramatic equalizing goal in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup final between Korea and Japan in Qatar.
