This articles study Korean steel trade by applying the decomposition of value-added exports suggested by Wang, Wei, and Zhu (WWZ, 2013). The Korean steel industry’s GVC participation is higher than construction and services as it has high forward and backward effects and highly depends on raw materials imports. Korea rapidly participated in GVCs during 2000-2012 by producing offshore and importing low-priced Chinese steel for consumption at home or re-export. However, since 2012, GVCs have weakened due to rising global protectionism, the shift to domestic demand-driven structures in some Asian economies, and the narrowing production cost gap between developed and developing countries.