HISTORY OF KOREA:The first Korean kingdom of Gojoseon began in BC 2000. Followed by the Three Kingdoms Era (Silla, Baekje, and Goguryeo), the Unified Silla Kingdom and the Goryeo Dynasty continued to rule the Korean peninsula.

In the late 14th century, after the fall of the Goryeo Dynasty, the Joseon Dynasty rule the nation for 500 years and ended by the Japanese invasion in 1910.

Korea gained its freedom from Japan in 1945 and formed the Republic of Korea. However, the country divided in half when the Korean War broke in 1950. U.S. and United Nations troops fought alongside South Korean forces in the Korean War, which would cost some 2 million lives before it ended in 1953.

ECONOMIC GROWTH OF KOREA: After emerging from the 1950-53 war with North Korea, South Korea emerged as one of the 20th century’s most remarkable economic success stories, becoming a developed, globally connected, high-technology society within decades.

In the 1960s, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was comparable with levels in the poorest countries in the world. In 2004, South Korea’s GDP surpassed one trillion dollars.