The dark side of loan sharks in South Korea

I was quite aware that loan sharks in Korea was widespread because it’s not unusual to get a text message from 현대 capital(apparently it is a private lender that uses 현대’s name without permission) every now and then, but I knew very little about the fact that it also involves a lot of risks. There are thousands of small lenders operating on the fringes of the law that target people desperate for money.

The presenter said that these loan sharks usually target households which are spending more than they earn and their ability to pay off debt is weak. If interest rates rise and debt grows, this will pose problems for their financial state and even their safety.

I heard that they account for about 85 percent of the country’s troubled debtors who are seriously behind in payments or on the brink of bankruptcy.

In a recent news article, I heard that earlier this year, South Korean media was saturated with the story of a young women who borrowed about 2,500 000 won to pay college tuition and was charged with illegal fees that put her interest rate at almost 350 percent, forcing her to take out more loans. The lender then forced the woman into prostitution to pay off her debt. Her father was dragged into the mess and also fell into debt. He ended up killing his daughter and then committed suicide. This is only one of many other horror stories surrounding Korea’s loan sharks.

Usually borrowers knew the risks involved when they borrow from loan sharks but did so because they were desperate for money. This is causing serious problems and I feel that the government should set up loan policies for people with low income and take severe measures in order to prevent such happenings.

High Divorce Rates In Korea

I find the presentation on Divorce Rate rather hard to agree with. Divorce rate cannot be considered out of context. High divorce rate does not mean the breakdown of social mores, nor does low divorce rate indicate a morally steadfast society. I do not have the figures on marriage on Korea and other countries, but it is probably safe to assume that a higher proportion of Koreans get married than people in the countries mentioned, where marriage is considered more `optional' than compulsory compared to Korea. .

The message is simple: marriage is compulsory. Not getting married means some can never become a full human being. After the age of 30, some of my Korean friends get bombarded with questions concerning their marriage plans almost on a daily basis, from acquaintances to people they’ve have met for only a few seconds. If someone expresses disinterest in the topic, the response is an immediate look of disbelief and subsequent condemnation, and on several occasions, their sexual orientation is obliquely questioned. But why is marriage compulsory? And does this kind of belief contribute to the rising divorce rate? Many of my female friends have expressed concerns on the need to get married before the age of 30, and the frequency of or request for blind dates increase with age and desperation. To avoid being left behind, it is not common to see people rushing into marriage with someone they barely know but with matching credentials.

Being the single one out is no trivial matter in Korean society where collective ideal still reigns at large. As the presenters mentioned, even when a couple feel that the marriage is a source of pain rather than happiness, divorce should not be on the agenda. I think this plays a major role for the rise in divorce rate and it’s something that I find difficult to understand.

Saving Amzon

Brazil is a land of remarkable beauty and unsurpassed biological diversity. For this reason, deforestation in the Amazon is especially troubling. Biodiversity makes life on Earth livable for our species. By extinguishing places rich in biodiversity like the Amazon rainforest, we are destroying a part of ourselves.

There is still time to save some of the most threatened species and ecosystems that have been pushed so close to extinction that they will perish unless we do something about it. Perhaps the best way to address deforestation in Brazil is developing new conservation policies based on the principle of sustainable use and development of rainforests.

Simply banning the timber trade or establishing reserves will not be enough to salvage the world's remaining tropical rainforests. In order for the forest to be preserved, the underlying social, economic, and political reasons for deforestation must be recognized and addressed. So how can we make a difference? Well, an easy thing to do is buy less things that have a demand for rainforest materials. Things like mahogany doors. If people don’t buy them then there won’t be a demand and people will stop logging trees. Something that may be considered harder is to vote for a government party that priorities the environment and rain forests. One last thing is to call off the massively growing debt for Brazil. This way, they won’t have to exploit the rain forests.

Conservation efforts and sustainable development programs are not going to be cost-free. Even countries that already get considerable aid from foreign donors have trouble effectively making such initiatives work in the long term. In conclusion, I think the Amazon rainforest should be saved as it is an important part of our lives and without it, we would be plunging into global warming into an even more alarming rate.