An increasing number of young people are burdened with overwhelming debt even before taking their first steps into society. The reporting team met a music major who receives no financial support from her parents. This student takes out student loans, works part-time at a restaurant four times a week, and even works at the school counseling center to make a living, but still struggles to cover living expenses and major lesson fees. Ultimately, she gave up her dream of becoming a musician and decided to change her major. The student loans she must repay upon graduation are becoming a heavy load, and she says, "My life plan is to get a job as soon as I graduate and start by paying off my debt."
A 30-year-old youth this year, who studied hard since school days and entered a university in Seoul, faced a crisis due to sudden job loss. Finding re-employment was not easy, and starting to use credit cards little by little for immediate living expenses and his mother's medical bills snowballed to 86 million won before he knew it. Trapped in a quagmire of debt, the young man has received court approval for individual rehabilitation and is repaying his debts. Having studied hard and lived diligently, all that is left for him is debt.
  An office worker in their 30s who fell victim to jeonse fraud (housing rental deposit fraud) twice in a row started holding down multiple jobs, or N-jobs, facing the risk of losing their deposit. They say they have five regular part-time jobs in addition to their main job. Suffering from aches and pains all over their body, they say they cannot stop working due to anxiety about when they might lose their job and fall into debt. Starting from college student loans, difficulties in finding employment, jeonse fraud, and high inflation are all returning as debts crushing the lives of young people. Interpretations suggest that youth debt has become another facet showing the structural problems of our society, rather than a matter of individual spending habits or economic sense.
  Kang In-soo, an economics professor at Sookmyung Women's University, pointed out that "there are certainly aspects where society is turning unfavorably toward the younger generation," noting that the cost itself for young people to enter society has become too high. In addition, attorney Park Ki-tae, who has met many young people as a rehabilitation and bankruptcy expert, cited "the reality where income growth fails to keep pace with asset growth and a shortage of quality jobs for young people" as the causes of youth bankruptcy. Youth debt is not simply the result of borrowing money, but stems from a labor market where it is difficult to prepare for the future even by working diligently.

This week's SBS 'News Story' highlights the reality of young people who find it difficult to avoid debt even while living diligently, and explores together what structural alternatives are needed for their lives to move forward toward hope once again.