At the end of World War II, chemistry was almost nonexistent in Korea. There were only about 10 B.S. degree holders in chemistry from Japanese universities. Chemical engineering was in somewhat better situation, as there were several hundreds of graduates from junior colleges both in Korea and in Japan. Chemistry was one of the first fields established and developed right after the liberation. The Chemistry Department at Seoul National University started with 9 faculty members and about 50 students. The Korean Chemical Society was founded in 1946 as a meeting ground for not only pure chemists but also chemists in all the applied fields. However, ideological strife hindered the progress both at the university and at the society. It was further delayed by the Korean War. During and after the war, the Institute of Science, Ministry of National Defense played a vital role as a research center as the Central Industrial Laboratory did before 1950. After the truce reconstruction took place much with the foreign aid. By 1954 there were 19 departments with 2380 student quota for chemistry and 9 departments with 1520 quota for chemical engineering. Such rapid expansion of chemistry education was not accompanied by improvement in quality. In the latter part of 1950's many chemists went abroad for advanced training. Remaining faculty members were plagued with heavy teaching load and poor research conditions. The Korean Chemical Society also remained inactive, affected by the heavy emigration of chemists. It was revitalized in 1960 with the adoption of the “secretary-general system.” Fund was raised and the membership increased significantly during the early 1960's. It joined IUPAC in 1963 and published three journals. The Korea Atomic Research Institute which was founded in 1959 offered comparatively modern research facilities in 1960's. In 1967 the Korea Institute of Science and Technology was established to conduct the contract research for government and industries. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science was set up in 1973 and the Korea Institute of Chemical Technology in 1976. These institutions played an important part in accelerating the development of chemistry in Korea. As the chemists with advanced degrees from abroad began to return home, universities became more or less normalized. Chemistry departments increased only to 26 in number by 1978, while chemical engineering departments increased greatly in 1960's and 1970's reaching 29. Foreign aid and loan helped universities improve the research facilities and equipments. The progress chemistry made in Korea during the past 35 years is truly admirable. However, compared to the field in the United States and Japan which have a history of more than 100 years, there is still much room for improvement.