In the aftermath of World War II, Soviet Union and United States troops controlled the northern and southern halves of the country respectively. The rivals established governments leading to Korea’s division into two political entities on 1948: North Korea and South Korea.

After the Korean War, North Korea’s state-controlled economy grew at a significant rate. It was considered the 2nd-most industrialized nation in Asia. In 1970s, the expansion of North Korea’s economy came to an end and a few decades later went into reverse. The country struggled throughout the 1990s, largely due to the loss of trade arrangements with the USSR. In addition, North Korea experienced record-breaking floods followed by several years of equally severe drought which led to a vast scarcity and left North Korea in economic disaster.

In 1950s, South Korea was one of the poorest countries in Asia due to the destruction of infrastructures during the Korean War. South Korea embarked on a series of striving plans for economic development. Emphasis shifted to foreign trade with the normalization of relations with Japan, which resulted in a boom in trade and investment. Currently, South Korea is a major international economic power; it has the 12-14th economy in the world and the 4th in Asia, South Korea’s GDP expanded by more than 9% yearly between the 1960s and 1990s which makes it one of the Asia’s “Four Tigers”.