The economic achievements of the Republic of Korea in the past 40 years appear miraculous. Despite destruction and losses during the Korean War, the South of Korea has developed from a poor agricultural country to an industrial state. It now ranks among the 15 strongest economies in the world.

The Korean nation sprang up with the foundation of three kingdoms more than 2,000 year ago. A centralised bureaucracy developed between the 10th and 12th centuries. A distinct culture and language grew up which still play a key role in determining Korean nationalist feeling.
The Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945 created many victims and its political consequences have not yet been overcome. The handing over of power in the North to the Soviet Union and in the South to the US led to a division of the country in accordance with the ideological boundaries of the Cold War.

Thanks to an export-oriented development policy and the promotion of industrial high technology, the South Korean Republic enjoyed outstanding economic growth. Even the Asian crisis was not enough to brake its dynamic economic development. One reason for this lies in the enormous efforts in respect of education that the South Korean state - as well as private citizens - have made.

The emergence of a middle class and a trades union movement helped democratise the country. In the late 1980s, a new constitution was adopted and a sovereign Korean parliament elected. The greatest political and human problem remains Korea's division. There have recently been some hopeful signs that this could be overcome.