POSCO (formerly Pohang Iron and Steel Company)

Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO), 70% owned by the government of the Republic of Korea, is an integrated iron and steel producer which, since starting production in 1973, has enabled Korean industry to move from virtually complete dependence on imported iron and steel to reliance on domestic supplies for most needs. The 1lth-largest steel company in the world, POSCO has been noteworthy for the efficiency of its construction and of its subsequent operations, which has allowed production and expansion to come onstream more rapidly than anticipated, and helped make the company profitable when steelmakers in the United States and, for one year even in Japan, were making losses. The company has imported technology as required from various countries and has absorbed it, "Koreanizing" it so that the technology could be, in some instances, exported to other developing countries, or adapted for use in other Korean industries.In the aftermath of the Korean War, it was in the interests of South Korea, as well as of the United States and its supporters in that conflict, that the country's economy recover and develop as rapidly a possible. As the First Development Plan was elaborated, measures were included for protecting new industries with tariffs, quotas, and, in some cases, prohibition of imports of competitive products.