The Korea Times

Consumers open more overdraft accounts to bypass loan curbs

Banking consumers are increasingly turning to overdraft accounts and withdrawing cash — a trend widely seen as an attempt to bypass tightening lending regulations, data showed Friday. Known as a "minus account" in Korea, an overdraft account allows users to withdraw more than their available balance, up to a pre-approved limit. When the balance dips below zero, the account essentially functions as a short-term loan. This flexibility, however, comes at a cost, as interest rates are typically higher than those on standard personal loans. According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) obtained by Rep. Lee Yang-soo of the main opposition People Power Party, 542,279 new overdraft accounts were opened as of the end of June. At this pace, the FSS projects, the number of new overdraft accounts in 2025 will reach the highest level in the past five years. The number of new accounts rose from 837,780 in 2021 to 954,994 in 2022, peaking at 1.01 million in 2023 before falling to 891,788 in 2024. As of the end of June, the outstanding balance of overdraft accounts at 19 banks, including

Oct 18, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Consumers open more overdraft accounts to bypass loan curbs

Economy

Foreign exchange market to stabilize as Korea, US close to reaching tariff deal

Seoul’s foreign exchange market is showing signs of stabilization as Korea and the United States move closer to finalizing a deadlocked tariff deal, after the Korean currency weakened past the key 1,400-won threshold against the U.S. dollar. On Thursday, the Korean won closed at 1417.9 won per dollar, strengthening by 3.4 won and marking a two-day winning streak following Wednesday’s gain of 9.7 won from the previous day. The recovery followed a volatile stretch after the extended Chuseok holiday, with the local currency closing at 1,421 won per dollar on Friday, 1,425.8 on Monday and 1,431 on Tuesday, breaching the psychological 1,400-won threshold and raising concerns that there was no bottom in sight. The concerns centered on a bilateral currency swap, which Seoul requested and Washington rejected, in connection with the U.S. demand for a $350 billion up-front investment in return for lowering blanket tariffs from 25 percent to 15 percent. The tariff dialogue has been dragging on since the Korea-U.S. summit on Aug. 25. “The stalled tariff talks had fueled concerns that 1,450 won

Oct 16, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Foreign exchange market to stabilize as Korea, US close to reaching tariff deal

Policy

More newlyweds delay marriage registration to keep housing benefits

Longtime real estate broker Lim Mi-ae says she was surprised in 2014 when she met and brokered a deal for a newlywed couple in their 30s who had postponed registering their marriage to maintain housing benefits for singles. “Although I didn’t say anything to their face at the time, I thought they were crazy —undermining the idea of marriage just for financial gain,” Lim said. “But over the years, I’ve started seeing more and more couples like them.” Lim’s observation isn’t wrong. The number of newlyweds delaying official marriage registration with the government has nearly doubled over the past decade, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. In this year’s National Assembly audit data submitted to Rep. Chung Il-young of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, the ministry reported that 19 percent of couples in 2024 delayed registering their marriage for over a year after their wedding. That figure has steadily risen from the 10.9 percent recorded in 2014, hitting 12.5 percent in 2017, 12.8 percent in 2020, 15.3 percent in 2022 and 16.8 percent in 2023. “This t

Oct 16, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

More newlyweds delay marriage registration to keep housing benefits

Others

Wounded healer — how socially withdrawn man turned isolation into empowerment

You Seung-kyu lives up to the psychological definition of a “wounded healer” — someone who uses their own pain as a bridge to understand and heal others. Once a socially withdrawn man who spent nearly five years barely leaving his room in his 20s, You has turned his past into a powerful foundation for business, social advocacy and peer-based job creation. “I found out that even your unwanted, shameful past of social withdrawal can become a qualification,” You told The Korea Times in a recent phone interview. Now in his early 30s, You traces his turning point to a sharehouse operated by the Korean branch of a Japanese nonprofit organization for hikikomori — a Japanese term for recluses or shut-ins. He recalled that joining the program helped him slowly re-enter society and relearn the rhythms of daily life. “And over time, I not only adapted but also began studying how the organization functioned,” he added, benchmarking the business model to launch his own company in 2022. You's business, Not Scary Company, centers on two sharehouses in Seoul designed to help socially isola

Oct 15, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Wounded healer — how socially withdrawn man turned isolation into empowerment

Economy

Property gift transfers surge to 3-year high amid housing tax pressure

Home transfers hit a three-year high in 2025, possibly driven by homeowners wanting to avoid the higher housing taxes the government plans to introduce, data showed Tuesday. According to the Supreme Court’s online property ownership records, a total of 26,428 cases involving the transfer of multi-residential homes were reported nationwide from January to September. The properties involved were primarily apartments — the most popular form of housing in Korea — as well as more affordable options such as villas and officetels. The 2025 tally increased by 1,037 from the 25,391 reported between January and September in 2024, and marked the highest figure since 2022, when 34,829 cases were reported over the same nine-month period. Notably, gift transfers in Seoul this year reached 5,877 cases, up 19.6 percent from 4,912 cases in the same period last year. Of the nationwide increase of 1,037 cases from 2024 to 2025, Seoul accounted for 965 cases, or 93.05 percent. By district, Gangnam recorded the highest number of gift transfers in Seoul with 507 cases from January to September, followed b

Oct 14, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Property gift transfers surge to 3-year high amid housing tax pressure

Economy

Won’s freefall may remain bottomless amid stalled currency swap talks

The Korean won is falling at an accelerated pace against the U.S. dollar, repeatedly breaching the key 1,400 won threshold, with no bottom in sight amid prolonged Seoul-Washington currency swap talks. The local currency closed at 1,425.8 won per dollar in daytime trading on Monday, weakening by 4.8 won from Friday’s close of 1,421 won. It went below the 1,430 won mark for the first time since May 2 during intraday trading, opening at 1,430 won and falling to 1,434 won at one point — the weakest level in more than five months. The rate only stabilized to the 1,420 won level after the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Bank of Korea jointly issued a verbal intervention in the market later in the day. “The foreign exchange authorities are closely monitoring the market with caution amid increased volatility of the won and the possibility of market imbalances,” the ministry and the central bank said in their first market intervention since April 2024. Speaking at the National Assembly’s annual audit Monday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol

Oct 13, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Won’s freefall may remain bottomless amid stalled currency swap talks

Policy

Lee administration risks repeating Moon-era housing policy missteps as prices climb

The prolonged rise in Seoul’s housing prices is once again raising concerns as President Lee Jae Myung may be repeating the regulatory missteps of former President Moon Jae-in. Moon’s 2017–22 administration imposed multiple housing curbs but ultimately failed to stabilize the market. Less than six months into his term, Lee’s administration introduced two rounds of tightened lending regulations. The first came on June 27, capping housing loans in Seoul at 600 million won ($418,000). The second followed on Sept. 7, lowering the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio in regulated areas of the city from 50 percent to 40 percent. Nevertheless, data from multiple sources suggested that the real estate market in Seoul and the broader capital region continues to heat up. According to the government-affiliated Korea Real Estate Board, Seoul apartment prices rose 0.41 percent throughout August, while the metropolitan area saw a 0.14 percent increase over the same period. Growth accelerated in September, with Seoul rising 0.76 percent and the surrounding region 0.29 percent. Separate data from KB Land, a

Oct 12, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Lee administration risks repeating Moon-era housing policy missteps as prices climb

Society

Chuseok traditions shift as MZ Generation embraces digital connections, overseas travel

Chuseok is undergoing a marked cultural change for Korea’s so-called MZ Generation, who are increasingly opting to spend the holiday alone, send digital gifts and travel abroad — departing from longstanding traditions of family gatherings and ancestral rites. The MZ Generation — a term that encompasses both millennials and Gen Z — is largely concentrated in Seoul and the greater capital region for work or study. Digitally fluent and globally minded, many prefer international travel over domestic getaways. This shift reflects how for many in the MZ Generation Chuseok is no longer synonymous with returning to their hometowns — a tradition that typically sees millions of Koreans travel across the country to reunite with family. In a recent nationwide poll conducted by research and analysis firm PMI, 36.1 percent of 3,000 adult respondents said they planned to spend this year’s Chuseok holiday resting at home, edging out the 33.5 percent who intended to visit family. The survey was conducted among people aged 20 to 69, and those opting to stay home alone were primarily in their 2

Oct 3, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Chuseok traditions shift as MZ Generation embraces digital connections, overseas travel

Others

Scrapped banknotes could tower 77 times height of Mount Everest: BOK

More than 13.5 trillion won ($9.58 billion) worth of damaged or contaminated banknotes and coins have been discarded over the past four and a half years, with the volume of destroyed banknotes alone large enough to tower 77 times higher than Mount Everest, data showed Friday. The large-scale disposal of paper bills is raising particular concern, as it costs the Bank of Korea (BOK) hundreds of millions of won to incinerate damaged notes — unlike coins, which generate revenue when sold to recycling companies. According to data obtained by Rep. Park Sung-hoon of the People Power Party from the BOK, the central bank destroyed a total of 1.96 billion units of currency from 2021 to June 2025. The combined face value amounts to 13.56 trillion won. Of the total, paper bills made up the majority — 1.65 billion notes worth 13.52 trillion won — while 307 million coins, worth 38.6 billion won, were also discarded. The number of destroyed currency items totaled 403 million in 2021, 413 million in 2022, 484 million in 2023, 475 million in 2024, and 189 million in the first half of 2025. The sligh

Oct 3, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Scrapped banknotes could tower 77 times height of Mount Everest: BOK

Society

1 in 5 fired gov't officials skirt ban to rejoin public posts

More than one in five public officials dismissed for misconduct, including bribery, have been rehired in the public sector or by private firms with ties to their former positions over the past four years, according to data released Friday. Such reemployment directly violates the anti-corruption law, which bars disgraced former officials from being hired by central or local government bodies, public institutions, or affiliated companies for five years after dismissal. The ban also extends to private-sector firms, many offering lucrative positions, to prevent dismissed officials from continuing to benefit financially after serious ethical breaches. Violating the restriction is punishable by up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won ($14,190). According to data obtained by Rep. Choo Kyung-ho of the People Power Party from the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), a total of 183 individuals out of 819 who were dismissed for misconduct between 2021 and 2024 — amounting to 22.3 percent — were reemployed by organizations subject to these employment restrictio

Oct 3, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Yi Whan-woo

Read more

Consumers open more overdraft accounts to bypass loan curbs

Foreign exchange market to stabilize as Korea, US close to reaching tariff deal

More newlyweds delay marriage registration to keep housing benefits

Wounded healer — how socially withdrawn man turned isolation into empowerment

Property gift transfers surge to 3-year high amid housing tax pressure

Won’s freefall may remain bottomless amid stalled currency swap talks

Lee administration risks repeating Moon-era housing policy missteps as prices climb

Chuseok traditions shift as MZ Generation embraces digital connections, overseas travel

Scrapped banknotes could tower 77 times height of Mount Everest: BOK

1 in 5 fired gov't officials skirt ban to rejoin public posts

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