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After the Japanese economic take-off, South Korea went through another “miracle”. More so than in Japan, shipbuilding was a strategically significant sector of the Korean economic take-off. Shipbuilding’s importance to Korea is even greater than that of electronics, and is a result of the support of State-owned companies initially followed by that of privatised steel companies. Shipbuilding has been a key element of Korea’s take-off, a decisive instrument of catching up and has proven to be a significant means for a follower to make up for their late arrival compared to leading industrial countries. Korean shipbuilding took advantage of its close proximity with the most powerful steel complexes in the world, and supplanted Japan as the world’s leading shipbuilding nation in 2000. From 2009 onwards, Korean shipbuilders were able to compete effectively with Chinese competitors, thanks to a highly qualified workforce working long hours, and to their strategic position in high-end products. This success, to a large extent, was the result of close co-operation between the State and the chaebols that had been initiated in the 1960?s.