Early History
In the early 1960s, the South Korean government began a new economic strategy that requires the chaebols, or conglomerates, to focus on increasing production for export. A series of five year plans laid out the strategy for decreasing the trade deficit of South Korea while strengthening domestic production. This was a strategy that had already been successfully used by South Korea's Far East competitors, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Daewoo was a key player in this effort to improve the significance of South Korea's exports.
The South Korean government sponsored cheap loans for chaebols manufacturing goods for export. Daewoo benefited from the loans when it started trading in 1967. This was at the start 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 industries, such as textile and clothing, the business yielded high profits. The factory of the corporation within Pusan produced 3.6 million shirts each month. The company also made basic manufacturing equipment, that were also labour intensive. Throughout this time, the company Daewoo helped to boost 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. Thailand and Malaysia became market competitors to South Korea, that forced the nation to focus on the industries of petrochemicals, shipbuilding, electrical and mechanical engineering, and construction. This specific phase of the nation'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 production was meant to further expand Korea's exports while simultaneously producing parts which previously had to be imported. Domestic components manufacturing helped to make possible a national defense industry and strengthen domestic industries.