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코인, 주식 안하면 바보라던 20대들의 요즘 근황 (이서영 변호사 3부)

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Key takeaways

News and Commentary

Overview

Attorney Lee Sa-hyung (insolvency cases) says financial distress among South Koreans in their 20s–30s is worsening. The problem is especially severe for those who borrowed to invest—notably in crypto—and then could not repay.

He links the rise in youth rehabilitation and bankruptcy filings to:

  • Interest-rate hikes
  • Lack of early financial education
  • “Betting” behavior driven by social pressure and unrealistic return expectations

Key points and arguments

Youth insolvency filings are sharply increasing

  • Last year, 20s–30s applicants for individual rehabilitation/personal bankruptcy at the Seoul Rehabilitation Court were 47.3%—about one out of two applicants.
  • The share of 20s applicants rose from ~10% (2021) to 17% (2023), which he characterizes as “serious.”

Why young borrowers collapse financially

  • Many people in their 20s lack stable income and initially borrow small amounts (e.g., living costs), but the debt grows rapidly.
  • Lee emphasizes that the core cause of ruin is often high interest:
    • Young borrowers often move to secondary/high-interest lenders after being rejected by major banks.
  • He notes that among cases involving large borrowing by people in their 20s, over 50% involved cryptocurrency.
  • He also points out additional triggers:
    • borrowing to support parents already in financial difficulty
    • chasing investment during an appearance- and consumption-focused era

Investment addiction / “gambling-like” dynamics

  • Lee compares crypto and leveraged investing behavior to addiction:
    • constant chart-checking
    • inability to stop despite self-justification
  • He argues this is less about “individual willpower” and more about a psychological cycle resembling a disease.
  • He criticizes real-world support structures for being insufficient in rehabilitation/bankruptcy contexts.

Conservative investment advice

Because “asset values have risen” while small returns from saving take too long in Korea, young people often feel pressured to take risky bets.

If investing is unavoidable, he advises:

  • Don’t invest using loans
  • Avoid leverage and products that can multiply returns (he compares them to gambling, noting ordinary people have extremely low success rates)
  • Invest only with funds you won’t need for 10–20 years
  • Treat investing as a time-based contest, not a short-term prediction game

How rehabilitation vs. personal bankruptcy is decided (Korea legal framework)

Three “key factors”

  1. Debt amount

    • Personal rehabilitation: unsecured debt up to 1 billion won, secured debt up to 1.5 billion won (total cap 2.5 billion won). Above that, rehabilitation may be impossible.
    • Personal bankruptcy: no cap on debt amount.

  2. Assets

    • Assets include deposits, security deposits, a vehicle, and insurance surrender value.
    • If assets are sufficient to repay (i.e., assets exceed debt), bankruptcy/rehabilitation may not be available.
    • Rehabilitation/bankruptcy may require repayment expectations that meet required thresholds (he references an example comparing debt vs. repayment totals during rehabilitation).

  3. Income

    • For personal bankruptcy, the core test is inability to earn in the future (e.g., illness, accident, disability, chronic conditions, or long-term unemployment/low employability).
    • Rehabilitation focuses on future income repayment capacity.

Typical outcome by life stage

  • Because rehabilitation depends on ongoing repayment ability, younger people (who may still have income) often choose rehabilitation, while elderly applicants more often meet bankruptcy conditions.
  • However, he also warns that many young people are applying for bankruptcy even when their income isn’t enough for basic living.

Spousal property treatment

  • Under rehabilitation, spousal property assessment can sometimes disadvantage the applicant because it may be evaluated in a way that helps creditors.
  • He says court practice has evolved: many courts now apply principles that do not consider spousal property, reducing unfairness.

Procedure and strategy (procedural advice)

Rehabilitation/bankruptcy steps

Lee outlines three procedures:

  1. Initial application
  2. Bankruptcy/decision
  3. Discharge decision

If discharge is denied, people can remain in “bankrupt” status longer.

Disadvantages

  • Personal rehabilitation
    • He emphasizes credit restrictions: credit transactions become difficult because the status is registered with the credit information agency.
  • Personal bankruptcy
    • He argues practical disadvantages are fewer, other than the delay until discharge.
    • He notes courts may move slowly due to understaffing and increasing caseloads.

Do-it-yourself caution

Although handling it yourself can seem like the “cheapest option,” he warns it is risky because of:

  • high likelihood of mistakes in complex forms and procedures
  • the role of rehabilitation commissioners, which can make it harder to defend effectively

He recommends using Korea Legal Aid Corporation for free legal support, while still noting it is “semi-self” and requires significant documentation.

Contributors / presenters

  • 이서영 변호사 (Attorney Lee Sa-hyung)

Original video