In the mid-1970s the Korean flags began to fly in many countries around the globe where the name “Korea” didn’t mean anything. Korean cars raced along the roads in South America and Africa, and Korean-built structures went up in the Middle East. Though lacking in capital and technology, Korea surmounted the energy crisis in the 1970s with passion and challenging spirit. Korea’s carmakers, who became one of the world’s top five automobile manufacturers in just half a century, and builders, who endured stifling heat and dust to build highways and ports in the desert, were the proud pioneers who enlarged Korea’s presence around the world and built the foundation for the nation’s phenomenal economic growth.
