SEOUL, March 5 (Korea Bizwire) — In the fourth quarter of last year, loans extended to businesses in the service sector, mostly taken out by self-employed people, rose to the largest amount ever. This seems to be the result of small wholesale and retail companies turning to loans amid sluggish domestic demand. Outstanding loans to [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Debt incurred by households and self-employed businesses in South Korea is estimated to surpass 2,000 trillion won (US$1,713 billion) as of September last year, according to central bank data on Sunday. Outstanding household loans came to 1,481 trillion won at the end of last September, up 13.6 trillion won [...]
SEJONG, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — More than half of middle-aged people were indebted last year, data showed Tuesday, in the latest sign of growing household debt in South Korea. The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed that 56.1 percent of people aged between 40 and 64 borrowed money from banks or other financial institutions [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — A recent study has revealed that many young South Koreans who are either unemployed or struggling to make ends meet face difficulties with everyday life, and often forgo meeting with friends or having proper meals. The National Human Rights Council of Korea conducted a survey of 1,000 men and [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Large South Korean companies’ ability to service their debts worsened sharply in the first nine months of this year due to plunging profits, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. The interest coverage ratio for 241 out of the country’s top 500 firms averaged 5.08 as of end-September, compared with 10.01 [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Fewer South Koreans are filing for personal bankruptcy, with the notable exception of those in their 20s, the only age group for which bankruptcies are actually increasing. The Supreme Court reported to Rep. Kim Byung-wook that the number of personal bankruptcies among 20-somethings increased from 691 cases in 2015 [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — New data shows that wealthy South Koreans are more indebted than ever, meaning that so called “the rich getting richer” phenomenon in household debts is becoming ever more serious. It is estimated that the top income bracket borrowed additional money to purchase real estate, but higher housing prices led [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — The financial regulator said Friday it will encourage banks to provide mid-rate policy loans worth 1 trillion won (US$886 million) to desperate borrowers from next year, as part of ongoing efforts to relieve their debt burdens. About 3 million borrowers, who have no option but to borrow money from [...]
SEJONG, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — More than half of middle-aged South Koreans are in debt, government data showed Tuesday, in the latest sign of growing household debt in Asia’s fourth-largest economy. The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed that 55.2 percent of people, aged between 40 and 64, borrowed money from banks or other [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean working poor are struggling from a vicious cycle of increasing debt, where interest and repayment fees reach as high as 12.56 million won each year, while disposable income is no more than 11 million won, on average. The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHSA) [...]