Yoon Urges "Urgent 'War on Drugs' Before Becoming a National Risk... Calls for Drastic Measures"

Presidential Office on Zero Tolerance for Illegal Private Loans: "Yoon Believes We Must Protect Ordinary People"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] On the 24th, President Yoon Suk-yeol urged, regarding drug crimes, "Please devise special measures with a sense of mission to protect future generations against the rapid increase in drug offenders among the youth, especially online."

President Yoon made these remarks during a weekly meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo at the Yongsan Presidential Office in the morning. Presidential spokesperson Lee Jae-myung briefed that Yoon said, "The war on drugs is urgent before drugs exceed manageable thresholds and spread as a national risk."

At the 77th Police Day ceremony on the 21st, President Yoon also mentioned the increasing youth and first-time offender rates among drug criminals, instructing, "Relevant agencies and the international community must actively cooperate and respond swiftly," and "Win the war on drugs with a sense of mission to protect our future generations."

Earlier, at a closed Cabinet meeting on the 12th of this month, President Yoon stated, "The drug problem among youth is also at a serious level," and requested Cabinet members to establish a "comprehensive inter-ministerial management plan for drug offender punishment and rehabilitation," which includes not only punishment but also "addict rehabilitation."

Spokesperson Lee explained, "A comprehensive plan covering prevention and crackdown on drug crimes, treatment and rehabilitation, education, and publicity will be prepared at the government-wide level centered on the Prime Minister's Office."

Meanwhile, regarding President Yoon's doorstepping remarks emphasizing the crackdown on predatory illegal private loans, a Presidential Office official explained the background: "President Yoon encountered cases where victims and their families were threatened and their daily lives destroyed after taking out high-interest loans exceeding an annual interest rate of 5000% through reports and agency briefings," and added, "He believed that ordinary citizens must be protected from predatory illegal private loans and reaffirmed the principle of zero tolerance in today's doorstepping."

Since August, the Government Coordination Office has been operating the "Government-wide Task Force for Eradicating Illegal Private Loans," involving related agencies such as the Financial Services Commission, Financial Supervisory Service, Ministry of Justice, and National Police Agency. However, due to worsening economic conditions, more ordinary citizens are turning to private loans, and cases of illegal private loan damages with annual interest rates reaching thousands of percent are emerging.

Therefore, on the morning of the same day at the Yongsan Presidential Office, President Yoon warned reporters, "Currently, predatory illegal private loans are causing great suffering to ordinary citizens due to extremely high interest rates," and stated, "We will strongly crack down on predatory illegal private loans with a zero-tolerance policy."

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