The
Miracle on the Han River is a term used to refer to
South Korea's postwar
export-fueled
economic growth, including rapid
industrialization,
technological achievement,
education boom, large rise in
living standards, rapid
urbanization,
skyscraper boom,
modernization, successful hosting of the
1988 Summer Olympics and co-hosting of the
2002 FIFA World Cup. This growth was accompanied by a
democratization and
globalization that transformed the country from the destruction of the Korean War to a wealthy and
developed country with a globally influential economy and prominent
multinational conglomerates such as
Samsung,
LG, and
Hyundai. Also, the growth is very closely related to an $800 million aid Tokyo provided in compensation for Koreans forced into labour including
comfort women and military service during the Japanese occupation in
World War II, although the fact about the aid is scarcely recognized by, or is concealed for political reasons to Koreans.