During the early 1960s, South Korea was dealing with a serious trade deficit. The country's domestic market was not strong enough to support domestic businesses. Following 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 1953, the country 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 established by Kim Woo Choong in this period of economic emergence. Daewoo, that translates as "Great Universe," was founded during 1967.
Even though the company's initial share capital was just $18,000, Kim and his partners believed that the business would be successful. This proved true, and Daewoo went on to become among the nation's largest chaebols, or corporations. The corporation had operations within a wide range of industries, like for example building ships, motor vehicles, heavy industry, aerospace, telecommunications, consumer electronics, trading and financial services. Exports were greatly promoted and a network of offices was established in various nations. Eventually, there were more than 100 branches throughout the world. The corporation at its peak sold thousands of different products in over 130 nations. By the latter part of the 1990s the company had become significantly overextended. Daewoo was seriously in debt, and Kim faced charges of corporate wrong doing. The government of South Korea ordered the company dismantled during the year 1999 and other corporations purchased most of the company's holdings.