Daewoo moved into the construction business, helping to create the new village movement, that was a part of Korea's rural development program. The company was also able to capitalize on the growing markets in the Middle East and within Africa. Daewoo received its GTC designation during this time. The government of South Korea offered major investment help to the company in the form of subsidized loans. South Korea's strict import controls angered competing nations, but the government knew that, without help, the chaebols will never endure the world recession caused by the oil crisis in the 1970s. Protectionist policies were required to make sure that the economy continued to grow.
Even though the government felt that Hyundai and Samsung had the better skill in heavy engineering, Daewoo was forced into shipbuilding by the government. Okpo, the largest dockyard in the globe was not a responsibility that Kim was wanting. He stated a lot of times that the government of Korea was stifling his entrepreneurial instinct by forcing him to undertake actions based on duty rather than earnings. In spite of his reluctance, Kim was able to turn Daewoo Shipbuilding and Heavy Machinery into a profitable company producing competitively priced oil rigs and ships on a tight production schedule. This happened during the 1980s when the economy within South Korea was going through a liberalization stage.
The government in this time was lessening its protectionist measures which helped to fuel the rise of small businesses and medium-sized companies. Daewoo had to divest 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 intended to make the chaebols more aggressive in their international dealings. Nonetheless, the new economic climate caused some chaebols to fail. Among the competitors of Daewoo, the Kukje Group, went into liquidation during the year 1985. The shift of government favour to small private companies was meant to spread the wealth that had previously been concentrated in Korea's industrial centers, Seoul and Pusan.