Over the past two decades, the Korean economy has grown an average of 8.6 percent annually; it became the eleventh largest economy in the world at the end of 1996. Korea also joined the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in late 1996. Despite this, Korea suffered an economic crisis in 1997 that lasted three years, resulting in an emergency bailout from the International Monetary Fund. Faced with this crisis, the Korean government assigned an investigation to a joint task force consisting of the Korea Development Institute and an authoritative international consulting firm. After thorough analysis, they posited five main reasons for the crisis (Booz, Allen, & Hamilton, 1997). One of the reported reasons pertinent to this chapter's main focus was the inadequate ability to create knowledge and the poor conditions for nurturing it. The investigation concluded by suggesting educational reforms to stimulate entrepreneurialism, as well as creativity.

Sparked by the report and expert advice, the Korean government has become seriously concerned about how to enhance the creative potential of the Korean people. One of the steps it took was the establishment of a national education reform committee for the task in 1996 (Korea Education Reform Committee [KERF], 1996). Creativity has become a main topic in education, business, and almost every sector recently, and the demand for finding ways of maximizing creative potential has never been higher. However, supply from the academic community has left much to be desired.