Early History
During the early part of the 1960s, the government of South Korea started a new economic strategy requiring the conglomerates, or chaebols, to concentrate on increasing production for export. A series of five year plans laid out the strategy for decreasing South Korea's trade deficit while strengthening domestic production. This was a plan that had already been successfully employed y both Hong Kong and Taiwan, the Far East competitors of South Korea. The company Daewoo had a key part in this effort to improve the significance of South Korea's exports.
To help the chaebols in their efforts for production of exports, the South Korean government sponsored cheap loans for chaebols. Daewoo was among these businesses that benefited during 1967. This was at the beginning of the second five-year plan. The company Daewoo took advantage of the nation's large workforce, its primary asset. By concentrating on labour-intensive businesses, like textile and clothing, the business yielded high profits. The corporation's factory in Pusan made 3.6 million shirts each and every month. The corporation also manufactured basic manufacturing equipment, which were also labour intensive. Throughout this time, the company Daewoo helped to increase the level of exports of South Korea, that were growing almost 40% per year.
Korea's comparative advantage in labor-intensive production began to decline, when the demand for labour pushed the wages upwards. Malaysia and Thailand became market competitors to South Korea, that forced the country to focus on the businesses of shipbuilding, petrochemicals, electrical and mechanical engineering, and construction. This particular phase of the nation's economic recovery lasted from the year 1973 to 1981. This took place at the same time as the US announced its plans to completely withdraw its peacekeeping forces from the nation. The new emphasis in manufacturing was meant to further expand Korea's exports while simultaneously making parts which previously had to be imported. Local parts manufacturing helped to strengthen domestic industries and make possible a national defense industry.