South Korea was dealing with a serious trade deficit during the early 1960s. The nation's domestic market was not strong enough to support domestic businesses. After WWII, when Korea was divided by the Allies, all the natural resources were in the territory north of the 38th parallel. With its stronger military, North Korea, wasted little time before invading the South following the withdrawal of the U.S. military. During the year 1953, the nation was finally at peace, and South Korea started an intensive drive towards economic growth, rapidly transforming from an agrarian economy to a centrally planned, industrial economy. Determined to never again experience hostile invasions and lack of essential resources, South Korea became an economic miracle. Daewoo Group was established by Kim Woo Choong in this period of economic emergence. Daewoo, that means "Great Universe," was founded during 1967.
Even though the company's initial share capital was only $18,000, Kim as well as his partners believed that the company would be successful. This proved true, because Daewoo became among the largest chaebols, or conglomerates of the nation. The business had operations within a huge array of industries, including motor vehicles, building ships, aerospace, heavy industry, consumer electronics, telecommunications, financial services and trading. Exports were heavily promoted and a network of offices was established abroad. Eventually, there were over 100 branches throughout the world. The business at its peak sold thousands of different products in over 130 nations. By the latter part of the 1990s the corporation had become considerably overextended. The company was seriously in debt, and Kim was accused of corporate wrong doing. The government of South Korea ordered the conglomerate dismantled in 1999 and other businesses bought most of the company's holdings.