The overdue loans for 3.36 million self-employed jumped 49.7 percent to 27.38 trillion won ($20.57 billion) as of the end of December from 18.29 trillion won a year earlier.
The government is considering deleting overdue debt records for small business owners and people in vulnerable classes that had piled up during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Korean workers’ overdue wages exceeded 1 trillion won ($740.2 million) in August. That makes the livelihood of the working class sad.
The criterion for determining insolvency is whether the payment is overdue. But when interest is not received, let alone the principal, insolvency cannot be confirmed.
People pass by a mobile phone shop in Seodaemun District, southern Seoul on Tuesday. The number of people in their 20s with overdue phone bills reached 47,478 in July.
Korea JoongAng Daily Sitemap
