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Ahead of the strengthening of the distance, the self-employed have no choice but to worry. The situation will be more difficult for bosses who have been struggling with loans. In this situation, it was pointed out that there is a limit to the loan-oriented support measures that repay the debt.



Reporter Jeon Yeon-nam reports.



<Reporter> From the



surge in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases to the spread of a mutated virus, year-end reservations that have been expected are being canceled one after another.



The number of customers gradually increased due to the gradual recovery of daily life, and I expected sales to recover, but I am concerned about the loan repayment right now.



[Self-employed Mr. A: I got a loan of 70 (10,000 won) last year. I need to get a loan and pay it back. If you do not repay, the interest will rise again.]



Due to the spread of Corona 19, many self-employed people are enduring the crisis by looking forward to loans.



In the third quarter of this year, self-employed borrowing from banks increased by more than 11 trillion won, recording the second-highest increase in loans ever.



However, the problem is that the debt only increases and the financial difficulties are not resolved.



The number of self-employed business closures continues to increase, and the number of self-employed business closures last year increased about nine times compared to 2017.



[Oh Jeong-geun/Professor of Economics, Konkuk University: About KRW 200 trillion of principal and interest is deferred for self-employed people. If you can't even pay interest, it's almost like you're in bankruptcy.]



In the end, there are clear limitations on how to live on debt, and the government's support measures for small businesses are focused on low-interest loans, deferment of principal and interest payments, and extension of loan maturity.



Most of the support measures worth more than 10 trillion won recently announced only relaxed the existing loan eligibility criteria.



[Self-Employed Mr. B: Just because you get a loan doesn't mean you won't pay it back.

Whether it's low interest rates or high interest rates...

.]



Small business owners are appealing to strengthen loss support rather than a loan policy that only calls for repayment burden.



(Video editing: Yumira, VJ: Park Hyun-woo)