Although World War II battles left much of Asia torn and suffering, the Japanese soon developed advanced high-profit export items such as cameras, electronics, cars and motorcycles. These in-demand products resulted in an economy rivaled only by the Unite States and the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, South Korea—crippled by its own war with North Korea and under a strict dictatorship—emerged from absolute poverty to become a leader in the steel industry.

Asia Rising documents how Japan and Korea managed to rise above the strife of war to develop into world economic powers, setting the global pace for competition in the late 20th century.

The People Remember: US military occupation of Japan, effects of the Korean War, imports/exports, Japanese economic recovery, the South Korean dictatorship of President Park, the 1988 Seoul Olympics