Eun Sung-soo: "We Must Help COVID-19 Delinquent Borrowers Restore Credit"

Eun Sung-soo, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, is seen talking with reporters after a breakfast meeting with major financial association heads at the Bankers' Hall in Myeong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul on the 11th.
Photo by Jin-ho Kim

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-ho Kim] Eun Sung-soo, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, stated on the 11th, "We need to help individuals who have defaulted due to the COVID-19 crisis to recover their credit." Considering the special circumstances of COVID-19, he emphasized that debtors who temporarily defaulted on loans but have since repaid should be granted a kind of 'credit amnesty.'

Chairman Eun made these remarks on the same day after a private breakfast meeting with heads of major financial associations at the Bankers' Hall in Myeong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul. The meeting discussed credit recovery measures for borrowers who defaulted due to COVID-19-related damages but have been making sincere repayments.

He said, "COVID-19 is a rare situation that may occur once in a hundred years," and added, "It is necessary to stop sharing default information among financial institutions for borrowers who completed repayment after defaulting."

He further requested, "When calculating credit scores, please refrain from using records of defaults that occurred during the COVID-19 situation."

He strongly denied concerns that support measures for credit recovery of defaulters might lead to a 'moral hazard.' Chairman Eun stated, "The support measures for credit recovery are limited to those who have repaid their loans," and added, "Since the support is provided only to those who have repaid, the moral hazard issue is expected to be minimized. We need to consider the hardships that defaulters have experienced."

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