ABSTRACT
South Korea experienced nearly unprecedented economic growth in the last half of the twentieth century before weathering a devastating economic crisis at the end of that period, while the North lost its economic lead over the South in the 1950s and has become isolated politically and economically. Yet the two Koreas share an old, unique culture, and the likelihood of eventual reunification is great, despite saber-rattling from Pyongyang. In this chapter, the changing consumer environments in the two Koreas will be discussed with coverage of historical, cultural, economic, and political forces that underlie those changes.
