Controversy over debt forgiveness for high earners 'New Start Fund'… virtual assets also under scrutiny

In the screening process for 'New Start Fund' beneficiaries, a debt adjustment program for the self-employed and small business owners, the presence of virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) will also be checked.

On the 16th (Korea time), Shin Jin-chang, Secretary General of the Financial Services Commission, said, "We will revise the system, for example by differentiating principal reductions according to absolute income and asset levels."

This follows revelations the previous day that some recipients of principal reductions under the New Start Fund received reductions despite having the ability to repay. According to the regular audit report on the Korea Asset Management Corporation released by the Board of Audit and Inspection the previous day, of the 32,703 people who received principal reductions from the New Start Fund, 1,944 had a repayment capability rate of 100% or more yet received a total of 84 billion won in reductions. High-income debtors with strong repayment ability were uniformly applied a principal reduction rate of 60%.

In particular, many of them were found to have concealed acquisitions of virtual assets and unlisted shares. There was even a case where someone received a debt reduction of approximately 112.17 million won from the New Start Fund while holding virtual assets worth about 439.22 million won.