Ulsan Special Judicial Police Conduct Special Crackdown on Illegal Loan Businesses Ahead of Seollal Holiday

Illegal Loan Advertisements and High-Interest Private Loans Crackdown from Jan 22 to Feb 8

Ulsan City is launching a special crackdown on illegal lending businesses in celebration of the Lunar New Year holiday. The operation will be conducted for three weeks from January 22 to February 8.

This special crackdown is designed to prevent illegal lending damage to economically vulnerable citizens such as self-employed individuals and small business owners, whose demand for business and living funds increases ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

The targets of the crackdown include 181 registered businesses (125 lending businesses and 56 lending brokerage businesses) and illegal private loan sharks.

The main inspection points are △ whether interest rates exceeding the legal limit (20% per annum) are being charged △ unregistered lending activities and advertising using similar trade names △ false or exaggerated advertisements and unfair fee collection from lending users.

Ulsan City plans to take criminal action and administrative measures such as business suspension against violating companies based on the crackdown results.

Additionally, during this period, promotional activities will be strengthened, including distributing leaflets to citizens at major permanent markets and traditional markets to prevent illegal lending damage.

An official from Ulsan City said, “If you are experiencing difficulties due to illegal private loans, we strongly encourage you to contact the Ulsan City Civil Affairs Police Division for legal consultation and free attorney appointment,” adding, “We ask for many reports to prevent illegal private loans that exploit citizens’ hardships.”

Since introducing special judicial police officers dedicated to lending businesses in August 2020, Ulsan City has arrested dozens of illegal lenders (with illegal loan amounts totaling about 760 million won), including cases of illegal private loans charging an unfair annual interest rate of 3910.7%, and referred them to the prosecution.

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