Daewoo expanded into the construction industry, serving the new village movement, a development program for rural Korea. The company also took advantage of the growing African and Middle Eastern markets. Daewoo received its GTC designation at this time. Major investment assistance was offered by the government of South Korea to the company in the form of subsidized loans. The strict import controls of South Korea angered competing countries, but the government knew that, without help, the chaebols will never endure the global recession caused by the oil crisis in the 1970s. Protectionist policies were essential to ensure that the economy continued to grow.
Even though the government felt that Hyundai and Samsung had the better knowledge in heavy engineering, Daewoo was forced into shipbuilding by the government. Okpo, the biggest dockyard in the globe was not a responsibility which Kim was wanting. He said many times that the government of Korea was stifling his entrepreneurial instinct by forcing him to carry out actions based on duty instead of earnings. Despite his unwillingness, Kim was able to turn Daewoo Shipbuilding and Heavy Machinery into a really profitable corporation producing ships and oil rigs which are competitively priced on a tight production timetable. This took place during the 1980s when the economy in South Korea was experiencing a liberalization stage.
Throughout this period, the government relaxed its protectionist measures and encouraged the existence of small- and medium-sized businesses. Daewoo was forced to rid two of its important textile corporations, and its shipbuilding industry faced stiffer competition from abroad. The government's goal was to shift to a free market economy by encouraging a more effective allocation of resources. Such a policy was intended to make the chaebols more aggressive in their worldwide dealings. Nonetheless, the new economic conditions caused some chaebols to fail. One of Daewoo's competitors, the Kukje Group, went into liquidation during the year 1985. The shift of government favour to small private companies was meant to spread the wealth which had before been concentrated within Pusan and Seoul, Korea's industrial centers.