South Korea's Growing Household Debt | Undercover Asia | Full Episode

Every minute, South Korea's household debt rises by US$90 thousand dollars. Every 12 minutes, a Korean is declared bankrupt. Ordinary households now owe some 1.8 times their disposable income. The country's 3 million mom and pop stores are taking out risky high interest rate loans, and even its high school students are borrowing from loansharks. Undercover Asia explores the deeper reasons behind South Korea's household debt crisis, and whether COVID-19 may well tip the country over the edge.

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About the series: Undercover Asia uncovers the hard truths in the underbelly of Asia and shines the light on the plight of the disenfranchised and the displaced. Find out what's the unexpected fallout in Indonesia from China’s decision to ban plastic waste; the causes and consequences of South Korea’s massive household debt; the rise of non-consensual porn in Singapore; and the dark side of the quest for white skin in the Philippines.
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[drkyasmar]

I’d rather look poor but financially secure. Than to look wealthy but wallet is empty.
If people mock and disrespect me for what i can afford, its more of a reflection of them and not on me.

[cvonhessen]

My parents used to say “if you cannot pay in cash, you simply cannot afford it” & I agree absolutely.

[ALing-ffqf]

My Dad always said if you can’t pay for it with cash, don’t buy it. You don’t need to go into debt for anything.

[chinniea]

I can relate to this. I'm a single mom and basically an orphan. Got a minimum wage job back then and the bills just kept on piling up and I had to resort to loans. From one loans to another until I drown from debts. And then I loose my job because I got sick. I thought of suicide so many times. I got depression and even heard voices in my head. The only thing that was keeping me sane was my daughter. It lasted for 2 years and by God's grace, I got a good paying job. I literally starved myself just to save money to pay off my debts. My daughter was even malnourished then because of lack of food. All of this happened 8 years ago and now my debts are cleared out and I'm earning enough to raise my daughter decently.

[afcfan]

Moral of the story: live within your means and don’t try to show-off.

[KoeSeer]

Aftaer watching this documentary, Squid Game suddenly make more sense.

[EspritsFantomes]

I’ve lived in Korea and appearance is everything to them. They were shocked that as someone coming from France I didn’t have any Chanel or Lous Vuitton goods.

[shuyangliu]

I remember during my first year as an international student studying in a US high school, one of the Korean kid told me that some Korean (international students) don't like Chinese (international students) because they looked "poor". But in reality, most Chinese students in the US had wealthy families that supported them to study abroad. Then I began to understand that he was referring to Chinese kids not buying expensive clothing and making themselves look good.

[saitokurihara]

Iam a Japanese, my father told me that its better if we look humble but we have a lot of money than we look rich but we fall into debt

[jhoohnan]

Financial planning should be taught in early school.

[notrightmeow]

I got lucky and pulled myself out of the credit trap early in life. Now, I’m retired, I only have one credit card with a $5K limit, and I pay it off every month. I’m debt free, and even on a $2, 5K pension per month I live a comfortable life. I also have some savings for emergencies. Please think about your financial future folks. When your old and broke, no one will be there for you.

[dailylegend]

In the Netherlands, we have a law that is: contract is not broken by purchase. So if a new landlord buys the property you are renting they cannot, by law, break the contract you have from the previous landlord. So it is important to read and negotiate a good contract. We also have laws that state rent can only be increased 2-3% once per year.

Absolutely shocking, that this woman lost her business because the landlord raised rent x3 or x4, just like that.

[sivamuthuvelu]

There is a proverb in our tamil language " யாருக்கு கடனும் நோயும் இல்லையோ அவனே செல்வந்தன்" which means" one who has no disease or debt is the real wealthy person "

[Bibimbapski]

I used to be an ESL teacher for South Korean students and I had a student who told me he maxed out three credit cards to buy Ferragamo clothes, wallets, shoes and a Mac PC, Macbook, etc. because he started working at a company and didn't want to look poor. Whenever he ate out with his coworkers, he would foot the bill and didn't post anything on IG unless it was of his luxury items or an expensive trip he went on. He emphasized how appearances are everything there.

[kxmode]

Did you know the word Mortgage is French? It is a portmanteau consisting of two French words: "Mort, " meaning death, and "gage" means pledge. A long time ago, when a person took out a loan of its size, it typically meant the borrower died before fully paying off the debt. So Mortgage literally means, "In debt until death."

[kadaltokek]

Imagine call people from another country poorer, inferior, and so on but you are the one who burdened by DEBT FOR LIFESTYLE not for Investment or to meet daily needs

note : my personal experience

[gigibb]

I was chatting with a taxi driver on the way to my destination, when she told me that young people who wear expensive stuff, wore their money on their bodies meanwhile their pockets were empty. She told me a story of when she was sending an old average looking lady and her daughter home, the old lady told her to stop in front of a huge house in the city. The driver asked if her house was farther away but she said no and that house was hers. Goes to show that it's better to be humble than to try to keep up with the Joneses.

[johnnykim]

I remember as being a poor school kid in Korea
It was unbelievable how many people judged me by what brand of jacket i wore on my school uniform.
Even school uniforms had many different fancy brands and they judged me.
What an experience 😂

[emiliedegreef]

I was always taught by my mum: ‘If you don’t have the money for it, don’t buy it. The only thing you can get a loan for is a house or apartment.’ Best advice ever!

[Mariamomo_]

My friend's cousin got himself into massive amounts of debt from renting sports cars and designer clothes to impress his dates when he first moved to Seoul (from the Korean countryside). That was 6 years ago and he's still paying for it, despite not actually ever ending up becoming serious with any of the girls he took out. It's terrifying