Early History
The government of South Korea in the early 1960s started a new economic plan that required big corporations referred to as "chaebols" to concentrate on producing exports. This new plan called for a series of five year plans which were designed to decrease the trade deficit the country was experiencing while helping to bolster the nation's production. This was a plan which had already been successfully employed y both Taiwan and Hong Kong, South Korea's Far East competitors. Daewoo had a major part in this effort to improve the importance of South Korea's exports.
The South Korean government sponsored cheap loans for chaebols manufacturing products for export. Daewoo benefited from the loans when it started trading during 1967. This was at the start of the second five-year plan. The corporation Daewoo took advantage of the nation's large labor force, its primary asset. By focusing on labour-intensive businesses, such as clothing and textile, the company yielded high earnings. The corporation's factory within Pusan produced 3.6 million shirts each month. The corporation also made basic manufacturing equipment, that were labour intensive as well. During this time, Daewoo helped to boost South Korea's level of exports, which were growing almost 40% per year.
Korea's comparative advantage in labor-intensive production started to decline, when the demand for labour pushed the wages upwards. Malaysia and Thailand became market competitors to South Korea, that forced the nation to concentrate on the businesses of shipbuilding, petrochemicals, electrical and mechanical engineering, and construction. This phase of Korea's economic recovery lasted from 1973 to 1981. This took place at the same time as the US announced its intentions to totally withdraw its peacekeeping forces from the country. The new emphasis in production was intended to further the expansion of Korea's exports while at the same time manufacturing components which had to be imported previously. Local components production helped to make possible a national defense industry and strengthen domestic industries.