The Ministry of Knowledge Economy is the result of a 60 year transformation in the Korean economy. Its predecessors include the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Energy and Resources, which were merged into the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE) in 1993. During the government reforms of 1998, responsibility for international trade issues was moved to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Ministry was reorganized once again, this time as the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Energy (MOCIE).

Elected with a national mandate to invigorate the Korean economy, President Lee Myung-bak took office in 2008 and merged MOCIE with elements of the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Finance and Economy. The resulting body was an enhanced government instrument capable of meeting new challenges of the 21st century: the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.