Daewoo expanded into the construction business, serving a development program for rural Korea, the new village movement. The corporation also took advantage of the growing African and Middle Eastern markets. Daewoo was given its GTC designation during this time. The South Korean government offered major investment support to the corporation in the form of subsidized loans. The strict import controls of South Korea angered competing countries, but the government knew that, without help, the chaebols would never survive the global recession caused by the 1970's oil crisis. Protectionist policies were needed to make sure that the economy continued to grow.
Daewoo's move into shipbuilding was required by the government, even though Kim felt that both Hyundai and Samsung had greater knowledge in heavy engineering and was more suited to shipbuilding than Daewoo. Kim did not want to take responsibility for the biggest dockyard in the world, at Okpo. He stated many times that the government of Korea was stifling his entrepreneurial instinct by forcing him to undertake actions based on responsibility instead of revenue. In spite of his unwillingness, Kim was able to turn Daewoo Shipbuilding and Heavy Machinery into a really successful corporation making ships and oil rigs that are competitively priced on a tight production timetable. This took place during the 1980s when South Korea's economy was experiencing a liberalization stage.
During this period, the government relaxed its protectionist measures and encouraged the existence of medium- and small-sized companies. Daewoo was forced to rid two of its crucial textile companies, and its shipbuilding industry faced stiffer competition from overseas. The government's goal was to shift to a free market economy by encouraging a more effective allocation of resources. Such a policy was meant to make the chaebols more aggressive in their global dealings. Nonetheless, the new economic conditions caused some chaebols to fail. The Kukje Group, one of Daewoo's competitors, went into liquidation during the year 1985. The shift of government favour to small private companies was intended to spread the wealth that had previously been concentrated within Seoul and Pusan, Korea's industrial centers.