During the early 1960s, South Korea was dealing with a serious trade deficit. The domestic market of the country was not truly 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 after the withdrawal of the U.S. military. In the year 1953, the country was finally at peace, and South Korea started an intensive drive towards economic growth, transforming quickly 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 established in the year 1967.
The initial share capital of the corporation was just $18,000, but Kim and his partners believed that the company would become a great success. This proved true, and Daewoo went on to become one of the country's largest chaebols, or corporations. The corporation had operations in a wide range of industries, like for instance shipbuilding, motor vehicles, heavy industry, aerospace, consumer electronics, telecommunications, trading and financial services. Exports were greatly promoted and a network of offices was established in different nations. Ultimately, there were more than 100 branches throughout the globe. The business at its peak sold thousands of different items in over 130 nations. By the latter part of the 1990s the corporation had become considerably overextended. The corporation was seriously in debt, and Kim was accused of corporate wrong doing. The government of South Korea ordered the conglomerate dismantled during 1999 and other corporations bought most of the company's holdings.