Private debt related violence on the rise

There has been a surge in private debt related violence as ``loan sharks`` lend money to young women by receiving their bodies as collateral through a ``Body Relinquishment Note.`` When these women cannot pay, they are sometimes sold off to entertainment businesses and may even suffer from sexual violence.

The Seoul Choongnyang police station Saturday has applied for an arrest warrant for a 29 year old private lending office staff on charges of sexually violating a debtor, who had signed a Body Relinquishment Note.

According to the police, the lending office staff had been pressing the debtor (entertainment establishment worker, 19), who had borrowed 1.5 million won, to repay the money. On Feb. 12, the staff member had demanded that the woman bring notarized documents to a motel in Yangpyung, where he sexually violated her. Investigations made by the police showed that the staff member had forced not only debtor to write a note but also the guarantor (another entertainment establishment worker, 19).

On Apr. 11, a private lender (41) was arrested on charges for selling a woman to an entertainment establishment after the woman was unable repay her 2 million won debt. The victim had written a Body Relinquishment Note in order to borrow 2 million won to repay her credit card bill, which in the end had been her downfall.

Kim Chang-Won changkim@donga.com