Daewoo moved into the construction industry, helping to make the new village movement, which was a part of the rural development program in Korea. The corporation was also able to take advantage of the growing markets in the Middle East and within Africa. Daewoo was given its GTC designation during this time. The South Korean government offered major investment assistance to the corporation in the form of subsidized loans. The strict import controls of South Korea angered competing countries, but the government knew that, independently, the chaebols would never survive the global recession caused by the oil crisis in the 1970s. Protectionist policies were essential to make sure that the economy continued to grow.
Even though the government felt that Hyundai and Samsung had the greater expertise in heavy engineering, Daewoo was forced into shipbuilding by the government. Okpo, the biggest dockyard in the globe was not a responsibility that Kim was wanting. He stated numerous times that the Korean government was stifling his entrepreneurial instinct by forcing him to undertake actions based on responsibility instead of revenue. In spite of his unwillingness, Kim was able to turn Daewoo Shipbuilding and Heavy Machinery into a very successful corporation making ships and oil rigs which are competitively priced on a tight production schedule. This took place during the 1980s when the economy within South Korea was experiencing a liberalization stage.
The government during this time was lessening its protectionist measures that helped to fuel the rise of small businesses and medium-sized businesses. Daewoo had to rid two of its textile corporations at this time and the shipbuilding industry was starting to attract more foreign competition. The goal of the government was to shift to a free market economy by encouraging a more effective allocation of resources. Such a policy was meant to make the chaebols more aggressive in their global dealings. Nonetheless, the new economic conditions caused some chaebols to fail. Amongst the competitors of Daewoo, the Kukje Group, went into bankruptcy during the year 1985. The shift of government favour to small private businesses was meant to spread the wealth which had before been concentrated within Korea's industrial centers, Seoul and Pusan.