Early History
The South Korean government during the early 1960s started a new economic plan that required large businesses referred to as "chaebols" to focus on producing exports. This new plan called for a series of five year plans that were intended to lessen the trade deficit the country was going through while helping to bolster the nation's production. This was a strategy that had already been employed successfully by Hong Kong and Taiwan, the Far East competitors of South Korea. Daewoo was a significant player in this effort to boost the significance of South Korea's exports.
To assist the chaebols in their efforts for production of exports, the South Korean government sponsored cheap loans for chaebols. Daewoo was among these companies that benefited in the year 1967. This was at the start of the second five-year plan. The company Daewoo took advantage of the huge workforce of the nation, its primary asset. By concentrating on labour-intensive businesses, like textile and clothing, the company yielded high earnings. The factory of the company within Pusan produced 3.6 million shirts on a monthly basis. The company also made simple manufacturing machines, that were also labour intensive. In this time, the company Daewoo helped to boost the level of South Korea's exports, that were growing nearly 40% per year.
Korea's comparative advantage in labor-intensive production began to decline, once the demand for labour pushed the wages upwards. Malaysia and Thailand became market competitors to South Korea, that forced the nation to focus on the industries of shipbuilding, petrochemicals, electrical and mechanical engineering, and construction. This specific phase of Korea's economic recovery lasted from 1973 to 1981. This took place at the same time as the US announced its plans to totally withdraw its peacekeeping forces from the country. The new emphasis in manufacturing was meant to further the expansion of Korea's exports while simultaneously manufacturing components which had to be imported previously. Local components manufacturing helped to strengthen domestic industries and make possible a national defense industry.