“Borrowed 40 million won, but paid 50 million in interest alone”... Housewife in her 50s dies amid usurious rates and debt-collection harassment

[Financial News] Loan sharks who charged predatory annual interest rates of up to 578% and engaged in debt collection have been arrested by police. A self-employed woman in her 50s who was also a homemaker borrowed 40 million won from them, paid 50 million won in interest alone, and, after suffering illegal debt-collection harassment, took her own life.
The Metropolitan Crime Investigation Unit of the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency said on the 14th that it had arrested two loan sharks, including a person identified as A, on suspicion of violating the Act on Registration of Credit Business and Protection of Finance Users, among other charges.
A and the other suspect are accused of separately operating illegal lending businesses between December 2024 and May this year, charging annual interest rates above the legal limit, with minimum rates ranging from 66% to 184.5% and maximum rates from 328% to 578.2%. They allegedly made combined illicit profits of about 102.4 million won from 19 borrowers.
Investigators found that they collected debts by harassing not only borrowers but also people around them.
In particular, A, a woman in her 50s who had borrowed money, took out other private loans to repay the usurious debt and, unable to endure the situation, took her own life this past April.
The principal A borrowed from private lenders was about 40 million won, but she is estimated to have repaid more than 50 million won in interest alone in just a few months.
She was an ordinary self-employed businesswoman and homemaker. After struggling to run her shop starting last year, she reportedly sought out a loan shark after seeing flyers scattered on the street. She was hounded for repayment if her interest payment was even one day late.
Police began investigating based on the victim’s suicide note, which said: “Day after day, even after paying tens of millions of won in interest, I couldn’t escape the cycle. Please help ensure that the suffering I experienced does not continue to my daughter.”
In the course of the investigation, police identified suspected criminal activity involving 20 people in total—including six illegal loan sharks and 14 people who provided them with financial accounts—and booked them.
Police have arrested the two main suspects and referred them to the Prosecution Office. They are continuing follow-up investigations, including into whether there are additional victims.
A police official said, “We will track down unscrupulous illegal private lenders to the very end and punish them severely. We will also work hard to provide protection and support for recovery so that the family left behind does not face further hardship.”
[email protected] An Ga-eul Reporter