Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Crack Down on Illegal Private Loan Counseling Centers at Local Universities and High Schools

Gyeonggi Provincial Government Gwanggyo New Office Building

Gyeonggi Province will provide counseling on illegal private loan damage to university and high school students in the province.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Fairness announced on the 16th that from the 20th to the 31st of this month, it will operate a "Visiting Illegal Private Loan Damage Prevention Counseling Center" at 11 universities and high schools in the province to prevent online loan use such as the so-called 'proxy deposit,' an illegal lending act targeting youth and young adults.

The schools operating the counseling centers include four universities: Dongnam Health University, Yongin University, Ajou University, and Pyeongtaek University; and seven high schools: Goyang Baeksong High School, Gapyeong Jojong High School, Dongducheon Jungang High School, Yangju Baekseok High School, Yeoncheon Jeongok High School, Paju Hanbit High School, and Pocheon High School.

The province will set up temporary counseling desks within the schools on pre-arranged dates, where investigators dedicated to illegal private loan investigations will hold informal discussions or special lectures with students, provide direct damage counseling and reception, and guide them on reporting and relief procedures and other response measures.

The main counseling content for high school students involves 'proxy deposit,' where money is lent to purchase idol-related goods (merchandise) or game items through social networking services (SNS), and a service fee (interest) is charged.

For university students, counseling focuses on cases where they suffer damage after using online loans to resolve urgent financial needs caused by temporary mismatches between part-time job paydays and living expense dates.

The Special Judicial Police for Fairness has been operating the visiting illegal private loan damage prevention counseling center since February 2020.

Kim Gwang-deok, head of the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Fairness, emphasized, "Due to the double burden of high interest rates and rising prices, cases of illegal high-interest lending targeting not only adults but also youth and young adults are increasing," and added, "We will do our best to eradicate illegal private loans."

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