The government launches the First Five-Year Economic Development Plan (1962–1966), institutionalizing state-led industrial policy and export promotion that would underpin chaebol-led industrialization.
The Korea Trade Promotion Agency (KOTRA) is established to accelerate overseas market development and support an export-led strategy that would become central to South Korea’s rapid industrial growth.
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) is founded as a flagship public research institute, strengthening domestic applied R&D capabilities that later fed into heavy industry and electronics upgrading.
Hyundai Motor is established, marking the rise of a major chaebol-led manufacturing champion and laying groundwork for South Korea’s globally competitive automotive sector.
The government creates Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO), a pivotal step in building an integrated domestic steel base for shipbuilding, autos, and machinery—sectors dominated by large conglomerates.
Samsung establishes Samsung Electric Industries (later Samsung Electronics), becoming a cornerstone chaebol in consumer electronics and, later, semiconductors and mobile technology.
Construction begins on the Pohang integrated steelworks, an emblematic heavy-industry project that supplied inputs for downstream chaebol manufacturing and export expansion.
The government establishes KAIS (which later becomes KAIST), creating an elite pipeline for science and engineering talent essential for technology absorption and indigenous innovation.
The Pohang steelworks is dedicated, marking a major milestone in South Korea’s heavy-industrial takeoff and supporting the expansion of export manufacturing.
South Korea commercializes CDMA technology (widely cited as the world’s first successful commercialization), helping catalyze handset and network equipment growth that reinforced the chaebol-driven ICT boom.
The KOSDAQ market begins full service, expanding equity financing pathways—particularly relevant for technology and growth-oriented firms alongside the chaebol-centered economy.
Korea joins the OECD, reflecting its transition into a high-income industrial economy and reinforcing policy commitments associated with advanced-market membership.
South Korea signs a memorandum of understanding with the IMF during the Asian financial crisis, triggering restructuring and governance reforms that reshaped chaebol finance and corporate strategy.
Naver is founded and later becomes South Korea’s leading web portal—an early marker of a homegrown platform economy that complemented the hardware-focused chaebol tech ecosystem.
The government designates the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) to attract foreign direct investment and develop high-value services and technology clusters (notably Songdo).
Economic transformation: chaebol expansion and Korea's tech boom (1960s–2020s)
