Daewoo moved into the construction industry, helping to create the new village movement, that was a part of the rural development program in Korea. The corporation was also able to take advantage of the emergent markets within the Middle East and within Africa. Daewoo was given its GTC designation at this time. Major investment assistance was provided by the government of South Korea to the corporation in the form of subsidized loans. The competing countries were angered by South Korea's strict import controls, but the government knew that, independently, the chaebols would never endure the global recession caused by the oil crisis during the 1970s. Protectionist policies were essential to make sure that the economy continued to grow.
Daewoo's move into shipbuilding was required by the government, even though Kim felt that both Hyundai and Samsung had better expertise in heavy engineering and was more suitable to shipbuilding compared to Daewoo. Kim did not want to assume responsibility for the biggest dockyard in the world, at Okpo. He said numerous times that the government of Korea was stifling his entrepreneurial instinct by forcing him to undertake actions based on duty instead of revenue. Despite his reluctance, Kim was able to turn Daewoo Shipbuilding and Heavy Machinery into a successful corporation manufacturing competitively priced ships and oil rigs on a tight production schedule. 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 companies. Daewoo was forced to rid two of its crucial textile companies, and its shipbuilding industry faced stiffer competition from overseas. The objective of the government 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 international dealings. However, the new economic climate caused some chaebols to fail. The Kukje Group, among the competitors of Daewoo, went into liquidation during 1985. The shift of government favour to small private companies was intended to spread the wealth which had before been concentrated in Seoul and Pusan, Korea's industrial centers.