This photo, provided by the Seoul metropolitan government, shows the Seoul Financial Welfare Counseling Center. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Apr. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 8 out of 10 people who filed for bankruptcy in Seoul last year were in their 50s and older, with many of them found to be male and people living alone, data showed Wednesday.
Of the 1,361 valid applications filed with the Seoul Financial Welfare Counseling Center last year, 86 percent were from those in their 50s or older, and 83.5 percent were recipients of basic living allowances from the government, according to survey results from the center.
Of them, 64.4 percent were male, while single-person households took up the biggest chunk at 63.5 percent.
The respondents picked insufficient living expenses as the reason for their debt, recording 48.8 percent, followed by business management failure at 21.5 percent, while 13.2 percent said they were victims of fraud or loan guarantees.
The majority, or 89.1 percent of applicants, said they were unemployed, and 85.1 percent were living in rental housing, the same data showed.
The total amount of debt owed was under 100 million won (US$72,914) for 59.5 percent of the applicants, and 23.4 percent owed between 50 million won and 100 million won.
Since opening in 2013, the financial counseling center under the Seoul Welfare Foundation has given legal immunity to 12,231 people owing 3.809 trillion won in “bad debt,” which is no longer deemed recoverable.
(Yonhap)
