In 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. After 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 1953, the nation was at peace finally, and South Korea started an intensive drive towards economic development, rapidly transforming from an agrarian economy to an industrial, centrally planned 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 during this period of economic emergence. Daewoo, that means "Great Universe," was founded in the year 1967.
Even though the corporation's initial share capital was only $18,000, Kim as well as his partners believed that the business would be successful. This proved true, and Daewoo went on to become among the nation's biggest chaebols, or corporations. The business had operations within a huge range of industries, like for example shipbuilding, motor vehicles, heavy industry, aerospace, consumer electronics, telecommunications, financial services and trading. Exports were promoted heavily and a network of offices was established in different countries. Ultimately, 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 faced charges of corporate wrong doing. The government of South Korea ordered the corporation dismantled during 1999 and other businesses purchased most of the company's holdings.