Passage 1
Having spent years fattening up its leading companies, South Korea is now forcing them to slim down. On Jan. 18h the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced thet the country's top 30 chaebols would do as the government had asked

Passage 1
Having spent years fattening up its leading companies, South Korea is now forcing them to slim down. On Jan. 18h the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced thet the country's top 30 chaebols would do as the government had asked and concentrate on their core businesses. The ten largest chaebols were alfowed to name three sectors each, the next 20 to name two sectors.
The government claims it has three clear aims: to encourage competition and foster small businesses: to wrest power from the old industrial dynasties and hand it over to professional managers; and, above all, to stem the 【"octopus-like growth"】of the chaebols into unrelated areas.
37.What does"octopus-like growth"mean here?

It means the "growth in nearly all directions and different fields without proper planning and control".