 |
Prime Minister Chung Hong-won (third from left) attends the opening ceremony for a launch of the National Happiness Fund at the Korea Asset Management office in Seoul on Friday. From left are FSS Gov. Choi Soo-hyun, FSC chairman Shin Je-yoon and fund chief Bahk Byong-won. (Kim Myung-sub/The Korea Herald) |
The Park Geun-hye government launched Friday a state fund aimed at rescheduling heavy borrowers’ debt programs to help them out of debt.
Prime Minister Chung Hong-won and financial leaders including Financial Services Commission chairman Shin Je-yoon and Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Choi Soo-hyun attended the launch held at the state-run debt monitoring agency Korea Asset Management Co. in Seoul.
The establishment of the “National Happiness Fund” was one of Park’s core election pledges made by during last year’s campaigning.
The beneficiaries will be those with less than and 100 million won in debt who have been in delinquency on their principal repayment for at least six months. Their number is expected to reach about 340,000, FSC said.
Under the plan, they will have their debts cut by up to 50 percent and the interest rate of the remaining loans will be sharply reduced.
Chung said the government would terminate the vicious circle in which high-interest loans lead to income reduction and further debts.
By Chung Joo-won (
joowonc@heraldcorp.com)
