Consequently, it put in place a government-led development strategy, also involving the import of capital and technology and a drive for exports. From the late 1970s it embarked on heavy and chemical industrialization on the basis of the success of its light industries. In consequence, from the early 1990s Korea was able to become internationally competitive in the steel, shipbuilding and petrochemical sectors.
More recently it has gained a competitive edge in the automobile industry, and in a range of fields in the information technology industry including semiconductors and mobile phones. Korea's per capita GDP stood at merely $ in 1960.