unlike in the west , though , where service and financial industries had replaced so much of the traditional manufacturing base , the new korea was now able to exploit the investment that previously had been poured into its heavy industries and quickly established itself as the worlds production centre : by the end of 2005 a staggering 60 percent of the eligible workforce was employed in light and heavy industry , a figure higher even than that in the soviet union during the period of the five year plans , and a deluge of cheap consumer products was the new nations gift to the world .