Historically, the Korean Peninsula has been called Geumsugangsan, which can best be translated into this poetic phrase: nature appearing as if it were embroidered on silk. Unfortunately, years of Japanese occupation and the subsequent Korean War divided the country into North Korea and South Korea; devastated the nation’s infrastructure, industrial capability, and housing; and triggered a collapse of the national economy. Until the early 1960s, Korea was focused on recovery with the help of international aid. For the last 60 years, there have been remarkable changes to the Korean landscape stemming from government-led land development projects, urbanization, and industrialization.

 

 In the early 1960s, the government’s master plan for land development was put into action. The government based its plan on the growth-pole theory in order to quickly develop the nation, prioritizing investment in a few central development areas. This approach resulted in both people and capital flowing to a few centers, with a resulting imbalance between those centers and the rest of the country. Later plans corrected this by implementing a more balanced set of development policies. 

 

 Since the 1960s, the South Korean government has fostered economic growth through export by building industrial complexes and new cities. Beginning with the Ulsan Industrial Complex, which was completed in 1962, and the Korea Export Industrial Complex (Guro Industrial Complex), in 1964, many industrial complexes and their adjacent cities emerged in and around Yeocheon, Pohang, Gumi, Incheon, Changwon, Banwol (Ansan), and elsewhere from the late 1960s through the 1970s.

 

 Other major development projects from the 1970s to the present include a number of natural resource and energy-related projects such as reforestation, land reclamation, multipurpose dam construction, and nuclear power plant construction. Many multi-purpose dams were built through the 1970s to the 1980s, generating hydroelectric capacity. In 1978, Korea’s first nuclear power plant, the Gori Nuclear Power Plant No. 1, was built and began operating near Busan. Subsequently, more nuclear plants were built in Wolseong, Uljin, and Yeonggwang.

 

 Urbanization has had significant impacts on the country's demographics, its physical landscape, its social-behavioral institutions, and its economy. As the number of cities increased, the rural population has declined, which has also led to a smaller percentage of the population engaged in agriculture and fishery activities.

 

 The emergence of metropolitan centers is a major feature of the development of Korea and resulted primarily from the rural-to-urban migrations, especially to the capital. Seoul experienced major increases in population, but this trend has slowed since the 1990s. The population of nearby satellite cities, however, keeps growing, which has resulted in a population concentration in the greater metropolitan area surrounding Seoul.

 

 Since 2000, various projects for balanced national development have been carried out. As a result, in 2012, Sejong Special Self-Governing City was launched as a new administrative capital. In addition, Innovation Cities were created in non-capital areas, planned around the relocation of public agencies to provincial areas.