South Korea was dealing with a serious trade deficit in the early part of the 1960s. The country's domestic market was not strong enough to support domestic businesses. Following World War II, 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 after the withdrawal of the U.S. military. During the year 1953, the country was at peace finally, and South Korea began an intensive drive towards economic development, quickly transforming from an agrarian economy to a centrally planned, industrial economy. Determined to never again go through hostile invasions and lack of vital resources, South Korea became an economic miracle. Daewoo Group was founded by Kim Woo Choong in this period of economic emergence. Daewoo, that means "Great Universe," was founded during the year 1967.
Even if the company's initial share capital was only $18,000, Kim as well as his partners believed that the business will be successful. This proved true, and Daewoo went on to become amongst the nation's largest chaebols, or conglomerates. The business had operations within a wide array of industries, like shipbuilding, motor vehicles, heavy industry, aerospace, telecommunications, consumer electronics, financial services and trading. Exports were promoted heavily and a network of offices was established in various nations. Ultimately, there were over 100 branches throughout the globe. The business at its peak sold thousands of different items in over 130 countries. By the latter part of the 1990s the corporation had become considerably overextended. Daewoo was really in debt, and Kim was accused of corporate wrong doing. The government of South Korea ordered the conglomerate dismantled in 1999 and other corporations bought most of the company's holdings.