Daewoo expanded into the construction industry, serving the new village movement, a development program for rural Korea. The corporation also took advantage of the growing African and Middle Eastern markets. Daewoo received its GTC designation during this time. Major investment help was offered by the South Korean government to the corporation in the form of subsidized loans. South Korea's strict import controls angered competing countries, but the government knew that, independently, the chaebols will never survive the world recession caused by the oil crisis during the 1970s. Protectionist policies were needed to make certain that the economy continued to grow.
Even though the government felt that both Samsung and Hyundai had the better expertise in heavy engineering, Daewoo was forced into shipbuilding by the government. Okpo, the biggest dockyard in the world was not a responsibility that Kim was wanting. He stated many times that the Korean government was stifling his entrepreneurial instinct by forcing him to carry out actions based on duty rather than revenue. Despite his unwillingness, 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 timetable. This happened in the 1980s when South Korea's economy was going through a liberalization stage.
Throughout 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 important textile corporations, and its shipbuilding industry faced stiffer competition from overseas. The government's objective was to shift to a free market economy by encouraging a more effective allocation of resources. Such a policy was intended to make the chaebols more aggressive in their global dealings. Nonetheless, the new economic conditions caused some chaebols to fail. The Kukje Group, amongst the competitors of Daewoo, went into liquidation during 1985. The shift of government favour to small private businesses was intended to spread the wealth that had before been concentrated in Korea's industrial centers, Seoul and Pusan.