(image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Applicants looking to receive government aid to help offset long-term debts amounting to 10 million won or less per individual will be given an extended deadline, which is now scheduled for the end of February.
The Financial Services Commission held a meeting yesterday during which the application window to settle long-term debts was extended for another six months.
The initial deadline for applications was at the end of this month.
The government aid is aimed at helping debtors who have the recourse to pay back their small-sized loans but currently lack the resources to do so by reducing their debts and halting repayment collection.
Following this measure, collection of debts for 294,000 debtors who lack the funds to repay their debts was no longer enforced since January of this year.
The government has been accepting applications to the “Happy Fund” since February, allowing debtors to be free from their current debts attached to both private and public financial institutions.
The total number of applicants so far has been 53,000, which falls short of the government’s initial estimate of 1.19 million people.
The government expects that only one-third or one-fourth of applicants are eligible for the aid, but because there is still a continuous inflow of 7,000 to 9,000 applicants per month who were not previously aware of the plan, the government has decided to extend the deadline further.
H. S. Seo (hsseo@koreabizwire.com)
