Illegal private financial damage surges...The punishment is still a slap on the wrist.

Police Surge This Year in 'Illegal Private Financial Crimes'

Under the Debt Collection Act, a debtor's intimidation or imprisonment is imprisoned for up to five years.

[Anchor]
While YTN has been reporting back-to-back illegal collections and private loans, damage from illegal private financing has surged this year.

However, most illegal private financial criminals are only taking soft measures such as fines or probation even if they are handed over to trial.

Reporter Yoon Woong-sung reports.

[Reporter]
In September, a single mother who was raising her 6-year-old daughter alone borrowed hundreds of thousands of won from loan sharks and was under insulting and persistent debt pressure before eventually turning her back on the world.

As such, illegal private financial crimes that collect evil at a murderous interest rate exceeding the legal maximum interest rate of 20% per year have been found to be significant this year.

According to the National Police Agency's data, 2,789 cases of illegal private financial damage were recorded this year until last month, up 58% from the same period last year.

The number of cases and the number of people caught by the police through a special crackdown on illegal private finance increased by 44% and 64%, respectively.

As such, illegal private finance is prevalent, but the level of punishment is low.

Under the Debt Collection Act, assaulting, threatening, or detaining debtors or related persons can result in up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won.

However, fines accounted for 38.5% of the 78 first trial rulings in violation of the Debt Collection Act last year, followed by suspended prison sentences with 23.1%.

There were 13 prison sentences, only 16.7%.

Last year, there were only five cases of imprisonment and probation of imprisonment, which was only 10%, which was less than last year.

After the YTN report revealed the story of a single mother who died of illegal private finance, police and other related agencies are scrambling to come up with measures, and there are growing calls for effective punishment to eradicate illegal collection crimes.

I'm YTN Yoon Woong Sung.

Video editing: Ahn Hong-hyun
Design: Jeon Whee Lin