Early History
The government of South Korea in the early part of the 1960s began a new economic plan that required huge companies referred to as "chaebols" to focus on manufacturing exports. This new plan called for a series of five year plans which were designed to lessen the trade deficit the country was experiencing while helping to bolster the nation's production. This was a strategy that had already been successfully employed y both South Korea's Far East competitors, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Daewoo had a major part in this effort to enhance the significance of South Korea's exports.
The South Korean government sponsored cheap loans for chaebols producing products for export. Daewoo benefited from the loans when it began trading in the year 1967. This was at the start of the second five-year plan. The company Daewoo capitalized on the nation's huge workforce, its primary asset. By concentrating on labour-intensive businesses, such as clothing and textile, the business yielded high earnings. The company's factory within Pusan made 3.6 million shirts on a monthly basis. What's more, the corporation manufactured basic manufacturing equipment, which were labour intensive as well. In this time, Daewoo helped to boost the level of South Korea's exports, that were growing nearly 40% per year.
Once the demand for labour pushed wages up, the comparative advantage in labor-intensive production in Korea started to decline. Competition from both malasya and Thailand forced Korea to refocus its energies on other businesses, like shipbuilding, petrochemicals, mechanical and electrical engineering, and construction. This phase of the nation's economic recovery lasted from the year 1973 to 1981. This occurred at the same time as the United States announced its intentions to totally withdraw its peacekeeping forces from the nation. The new emphasis in production was meant to further expand Korea's exports while simultaneously making parts which previously had to be imported. Local parts production helped to make possible a national defense industry and strengthen domestic businesses.