Rep. Lee Sung-nam of DP |
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
An increasing number of people are failing to pay off debts of one million won (about $860) or less, a lawmaker said Sunday.
Rep. Lee Sung-nam of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) claimed that the figure shows the administration's policies to help social minorities has not worked.
``As of late June this year, the number of delinquent borrowers of one million won or less totaled 262,233,'' she said, citing a report from the Financial Supervisory Service.
The figure represents an increase of 27,000 people or 11.5 percent from a year ago.
A person is listed as a delinquent after he or she fails to meet liabilities for more than three months regardless of the amount of money or misses more than two payments of 500,000 won or less for three months.
The legislator said while delinquent borrowers of small amounts of money are on the rise, the overall number of defaulters decreased from about 2.46 million to 2.11 million.
People in their 40s made up the lion's share of the financial debtors at 34.6 percent, followed by those in their 30s at 25.8 percent, the report said.
Those in their 20s were 9.9 percent.
``The Lee administration introduced a range of policies for credit recovery of the low-income bracket and social minorities but it does not seem to be helpful to those who have difficulty paying off even one million won or less,'' Lee said.
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