[Jeon Daegyu's 7 Wins 8 Losses] Recovery to Everyday Life

Morning commute. I hold a comprehensive daily newspaper in my hand and board the Shinbundang Line. This routine began in February 2019 when I started working at the Seoul Rehabilitation Court. I am the only one reading a paper newspaper on the subway. Most people are looking at their smartphones or listening to music. Although everyone is absorbed in different things, the quiet subway scene is the same every day. Each person's daily life begins without any change, following invisible rules.

The ordinary start of the morning began to distort little by little from January last year. The number of people wearing masks gradually increased until wearing a mask became mandatory, and evening gatherings disappeared. After a while, evening gatherings were allowed again, but meetings of five or more people were prohibited, and even those were only permitted until 10 p.m. Daily life was disrupted by COVID-19. Now, we earnestly hope for the disappearance of COVID-19 and a return to normal life.

The group hit hardest by COVID-19 is the self-employed. According to recent statistics from the Supreme Court Monthly Report, the number of personal bankruptcy filings nationwide in the first quarter of this year was 12,055, the highest in the past five years for the same period. With operating hours restricted and gatherings above a certain size banned, self-employed individuals have reached a breaking point. Due to the impact on the self-employed, employees and related workers are also being pushed into unemployment. There are people who have worked hard for their families, never spending more than 300,000 won a month on pocket money, and who have never used a credit card even once. Yet, at some point, they became credit delinquents, defaulters, and personal bankruptcy filers. Without even realizing it, they were swept away by the rough waves of debt and cast onto a deserted island. The hope of those trapped in the shackles of debt is likely a return to normal life.

Personal rehabilitation procedures are useful means for individuals to return to normal life. Recently, the National Assembly amended the law to expand the range of individuals eligible to use personal rehabilitation procedures. The amount of secured personal rehabilitation claims was raised from 1 billion won to 1.5 billion won, and unsecured personal rehabilitation claims from 500 million won to 1 billion won, increasing the debt limits for using personal rehabilitation procedures. Until now, debtors who exceeded the personal rehabilitation debt limit applied for general rehabilitation procedures but failed to obtain sufficient consent from creditors and thus could not proceed with rehabilitation, or debtors who could not apply for personal rehabilitation at all due to low debt limits, can now use personal rehabilitation procedures. It is expected that many self-employed people struggling due to COVID-19 will be able to recover their daily lives through personal rehabilitation procedures thanks to this legal amendment.

The hopes of ordinary citizens exhausted by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic or individuals burdened by debt are all modest: a return to normal life. What they desire is neither social honor, a luxurious home, nor absolute power. It is to live loving and being loved like ordinary people. To not be chased by anyone, not be despised by anyone, and not be blamed for something they did not do. To not have to think about breaking up first when they come to like someone. To not be afraid of liking someone (from Kim Ui-kyung’s "Youth Bankruptcy"). Fortunately, news says that recovery to normal life will begin from next month.

Jeon Dae-gyu, Chief Judge, Seoul Rehabilitation Court

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.