Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Operate Counseling Center for Youth Victims of Illegal Private Loans Including 'Proxy Payments'

Gyeonggi Provincial Government Gwanggyo New Office Building

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province will temporarily operate an 'Illegal Private Loan Damage Counseling Center' at high schools within the province.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Unit for Fairness announced on the 17th that, to prevent the illegal lending practice called 'proxy payment' targeting youth, it will operate a 'Visiting Illegal Private Loan Damage Counseling Center' at 11 high schools in the province from the 21st of this month to the 2nd of next month.

Proxy payment refers to the act of lending money to youth through social networking services (SNS) to purchase idol-related merchandise (goods) or game items, and charging a service fee (interest).

The Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police will set up temporary counseling booths inside schools on pre-arranged dates, where investigators dedicated to illegal private loan investigations will conduct free-form discussions with students. Counseling includes direct damage consultation and reception, guidance on reporting and relief procedures. The Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police decided to focus this counseling on preventing damage caused by 'proxy payment.'

The visiting illegal private loan damage counseling center has been promoted since 2020 to acquire investigation clues and prepare prevention and response measures through counseling by reaching out to victims who avoid visiting investigative agencies due to burdens such as exposure to illegal private loan use, fear of retaliation, or livelihood reasons.

Kim Min-heon, head of the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Unit for Fairness, stated, "Since cases of illegal high-interest lending targeting youth are expected to increase after the college entrance exam, we decided to open and operate the visiting illegal private loan damage counseling center."

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