Daewoo moved into the construction sector, helping to create the new village movement, which was a part of the rural development program in Korea. The company was also able to capitalize on the emergent markets in the Middle East and in Africa. Daewoo received its GTC designation during this time. Major investment assistance was offered by the South Korean government to the corporation in the form of subsidized loans. South Korea's strict import controls angered competing nations, but the government knew that, without help, the chaebols would never endure the world recession caused by the oil crisis during the 1970s. Protectionist policies were required to make certain that the economy continued to grow.
Daewoo's move into shipbuilding was required by the government, even though Kim felt that Hyundai and Samsung had greater skill in heavy engineering and was more suitable to shipbuilding than Daewoo. Kim did not want to take responsibility for the biggest dockyard within the world, at Okpo. He said lots of times that the Korean government was stifling his entrepreneurial instinct by forcing him to carry out actions based on responsibility instead of profit. In spite of his reluctance, Kim was able to turn Daewoo Shipbuilding and Heavy Machinery into a really successful corporation making competitively priced ships and oil rigs on a tight production schedule. This happened in the 1980s when South Korea's economy was experiencing a liberalization stage.
The government throughout this time was reducing its protectionist measures that helped to fuel the rise of small companies and medium-sized businesses. Daewoo had to divest two of its textile companies at this time and the shipbuilding industry was beginning to attract more foreign competition. The government's objective 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 worldwide dealings. However, the new economic climate caused some chaebols to fail. Among the competitors of Daewoo, the Kukje Group, went into liquidation in the year 1985. The shift of government favour to small private companies was meant to spread the wealth that had before been concentrated in Korea's industrial centers, Pusan and Seoul.