Early History
The government of South Korea in the early 1960s started a new economic strategy which required huge corporations called "chaebols" to concentrate on manufacturing exports. This new plan called for a series of five year plans which were intended to decrease the trade deficit the country was going through while helping to bolster the country's production. This was a strategy that had already been successfully employed by the Far East competitors of South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The company Daewoo had a significant part in this effort to enhance the importance 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 amongst these businesses which benefited in 1967. This was at the start of the second five-year plan. The corporation Daewoo capitalized on the nation's huge workforce, its primary asset. By concentrating on labour-intensive industries, like for example textile and clothing, the company yielded high earnings. The corporation's factory within Pusan produced 3.6 million shirts on a monthly basis. Additionally, the company manufactured simple manufacturing machines, that were labour intensive as well. In this time, Daewoo helped to increase South Korea's level of exports, which were growing almost 40% per year.
When the demand for labour pushed wages up, the comparative advantage in labor-intensive production in Korea began to decline. Competition from both malasya and Thailand forced Korea to refocus its energies on other businesses, like shipbuilding, petrochemicals, electrical and mechanical engineering, and construction. This phase of the nation's economic recovery lasted from 1973 to nineteen eighty one. This took place at the same time as the US announced its intentions to completely withdraw its peacekeeping forces from the country. The new emphasis in manufacturing was intended to further the expansion of Korea's exports while simultaneously manufacturing components which previously had to be imported. Domestic parts production helped to strengthen domestic businesses and make possible a national defense industry.