National Debt Hits 248 Trillion Won

The national debt has doubled over the last three years and has surpassed 30 percent of gross domestic product for the first time ever.

The national debt per person reached 5.13 million won, passing the five million won mark for the first time.

Korea’s debt growth is attributable to government spending on liquidating insolvent financial enterprises and defending the currency rate from falling.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy announced yesterday that the national debt has grown to 248 trillion won, up 44.9 trillion won (22.1 percent) in about a year by International Monetary Fund standards.

The debt almost doubled from 126.6 trillion won in the end of 2002 in only three years.

Of the 44.9 trillion won added to the national debt last year, 42.7 trillion won was borrowed by the central government.

About 15.8 trillion won was spent on issuing national bonds to stabilize the exchange rate, 13 trillion won was spent on converting national bonds and paying interest, and nine trillion won was spent to make up for general account deficit.

69 percent of the debt incurred last year was from issuing national bonds to stabilize the currency market.

Hyun-Jin Park witness@donga.com