South Korea was going through a serious trade deficit during the early part of the 1960s. The domestic market of the nation was not really that strong to support domestic businesses. Following WWII, when the Allies divided Korea, 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 US military withdrawal. In 1953, the nation was finally at peace, and South Korea started an intensive drive towards economic growth, quickly transforming from an agrarian economy to a centrally planned, industrial economy. Determined to never again experience 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 translates as "Great Universe," was established in 1967.
Even though the company's initial share capital was just $18,000, Kim as well as his partners believed that the business will be successful. This proved true, and Daewoo went on to become among the nation's largest chaebols, or businesses. The company had operations in a huge range of businesses, like for example building ships, motor vehicles, aerospace, heavy industry, telecommunications, consumer electronics, financial services and trading. Exports were promoted a lot and a network of offices was established in various countries. Eventually, there were more than 100 branches throughout the world. The corporation at its peak sold thousands of various products in over 130 countries. By the latter part of the 1990s the company had become considerably overextended. The corporation was really in debt, and Kim faced charges of corporate wrong doing. The government of South Korea ordered the conglomerate dismantled in the year 1999 and other corporations bought most of the company's holdings.