Daewoo expanded into the construction industry, serving the new village movement, a development program for rural Korea. The corporation also took advantage of the growing African and Middle Eastern markets. Daewoo was given its GTC designation during this time. Major investment support was offered by the South Korean government to the corporation in the form of subsidized loans. The competing nations were angered by South Korea's strict import controls, but the government knew that, unaided, the chaebols will never endure the world recession caused by the 1970's oil crisis. Protectionist policies were necessary to ensure that the economy continued to grow.
Even if the government felt that both Hyundai and Samsung had the better skill in heavy engineering, Daewoo was forced into shipbuilding by the government. Okpo, the biggest dockyard within the world was not a responsibility that Kim was wanting. He stated numerous times that the government of Korea was stifling his entrepreneurial instinct by forcing him to carry out actions based on responsibility instead of earnings. Despite his reluctance, Kim was able to turn Daewoo Shipbuilding and Heavy Machinery into a really profitable company producing competitively priced oil rigs and ships on a tight production timetable. This took place during the 1980s when South Korea's economy was experiencing a liberalization stage.
The government during this time was lessening its protectionist measures which helped to fuel the rise of small businesses and medium-sized companies. Daewoo had to rid two of its textile corporations at this time and the shipbuilding industry was beginning to attract more foreign competition. The objective of the government was to shift to a free market economy by encouraging a more efficient allocation of resources. Such a policy was meant to make the chaebols more aggressive in their worldwide dealings. Nevertheless, the new economic climate caused some chaebols to fail. The Kukje Group, among the competitors of Daewoo, went into bankruptcy during 1985. The shift of government favour to small private companies was meant to spread the wealth which had before been concentrated in Korea's industrial centers, Seoul and Pusan.