The number of homeowners in Korea struggling to pay off their mortgages, has now reached 570-thousand, amid falling housing prices.
And with this becoming a growing problem in Korea, the ruling Saenuri Party's presidential candidate Park Geun-hye is over at a citizens financial support center in Gyeonggi Province this Wednesday, to meet with a group of homeowners and hear about their difficulties.
This group of people who are commonly referred to as "house poor", spends 60 percent or more of their income, to pay off housing expenses, including a mortgage and related taxes and interest.
The amount is SO large that, they don't often have any extra money for other expenses.
But the biggest problem for the group is that the value of their homes has fallen, and they will be unable to repay their debts, even if they sell their homes and other assets.
So Park put out various plans to help cash-strapped homeowners pay off the interest on their mortgages, which had risen in the face of falling housing prices.
She said, she would finance the plan by allowing homeowners stuck in negative equity, to sell off shares in their properties to public organizations, like the Korea Asset Management Corporation, and then use the revenue to repay the loans.
Park has also promised to ease bank loan requirements for renters,. who suffer from high apartment rental costs.
Lee Ji-yoon, Arirang News.

Reporter : jiyoonjlee@arirang.co.kr