South Korea's Growing Household Debt | Undercover Asia | Full Episode

I’d rather look poor but financially secure. Than to look wealthy but wallet is empty. If people mock and disrespect me for what i can afford, its more of a reflection of them and not on me.

My parents used to say “if you cannot pay in cash, you simply cannot afford it” & I agree absolutely.

I remember during my first year as an international student studying in a US high school, one of the Korean kid told me that some Korean (international students) don't like Chinese (international students) because they looked "poor". But in reality, most Chinese students in the US had wealthy families that supported them to study abroad. Then I began to understand that he was referring to Chinese kids not buying expensive clothing and making themselves look good.

I can relate to this. I'm a single mom and basically an orphan. Got a minimum wage job back then and the bills just kept on piling up and I had to resort to loans. From one loans to another until I drown from debts. And then I loose my job because I got sick. I thought of suicide so many times. I got depression and even heard voices in my head. The only thing that was keeping me sane was my daughter. It lasted for 2 years and by God's grace, I got a good paying job. I literally starved myself just to save money to pay off my debts. My daughter was even malnourished then because of lack of food. All of this happened 8 years ago and now my debts are cleared out and I'm earning enough to raise my daughter decently.

My Dad always said if you can’t pay for it with cash, don’t buy it. You don’t need to go into debt for anything.

Moral of the story: live within your means and don’t try to show-off.

In the Netherlands, we have a law that is: contract is not broken by purchase. So if a new landlord buys the property you are renting they cannot, by law, break the contract you have from the previous landlord. So it is important to read and negotiate a good contract. We also have laws that state rent can only be increased 2-3% once per year. Absolutely shocking, that this woman lost her business because the landlord raised rent x3 or x4, just like that.

My friend's cousin got himself into massive amounts of debt from renting sports cars and designer clothes to impress his dates when he first moved to Seoul (from the Korean countryside). That was 6 years ago and he's still paying for it, despite not actually ever ending up becoming serious with any of the girls he took out. It's terrifying

Aftaer watching this documentary, Squid Game suddenly make more sense.

"I don't care about interest rates," Well, that explains all your failed businesses

Imagine call people from another country poorer, inferior, and so on but you are the one who burdened by DEBT FOR LIFESTYLE not for Investment or to meet daily needs note : my personal experience

my grandpa looks like a broke construction worker who drives a beat up american truck but is an engineer and owns a few houses in the usa, a steel detailing company, and a winery in asia. when he noticed i cared about my looks too much, he said, "look at all these people, they don't know me, they have no idea how much money i have. they don't have to respect me, the people who know me, do."

Financial planning should be taught in early school.

Iam a Japanese, my father told me that its better if we look humble but we have a lot of money than we look rich but we fall into debt

I'm glad I grew up in a environment where practicality and being money-wise is encouraged. My parents always say if you can't afford it in cash, then don't even mind buying it through your credit card, my mom also always tell me, not to practice buying expensive things then starve for 2-3 months, because you've spent all of your money in it.

While living in Seoul I saw lots of people wearing designer clothes. It really surprised me until my friend explained that the clothes are either fake, gifted, or bought with an allowance or credit. The people that are actually wealthy are the ones that own property and/or very successful companies which is really difficult with the astronomical prices in Seoul.

I used to be an ESL teacher for South Korean students and I had a student who told me he maxed out three credit cards to buy Ferragamo clothes, wallets, shoes and a Mac PC, Macbook, etc. because he started working at a company and didn't want to look poor. Whenever he ate out with his coworkers, he would foot the bill and didn't post anything on IG unless it was of his luxury items or an expensive trip he went on. He emphasized how appearances are everything there.

I actually ugly cried when the narrator said the lady only managed to make a sale at 6pm when she works 12 hours shift a day while her husband is in jail for attacking their tyrant building owner, and the son has to drop out of college to help repay family debts.

I am really surprised about the fact that Korean's debt is almost out of control. Paying too much attention on those material goods without having a personal financial plan in place is really detrimental to the life after retirement. Buying luxury items is not a mistake, but it chiefly depends on how much disposable income you have to make this purchase. It's unwise to just splurge your money on something out of your affordability. In Taiwan, many older people always remind young people to save for the future so as to live through unexpected accidents which is quite right for me. Thank you for filming this docu to allow people to stay more vigilant when it comes to personal finance.

I will just throw this out there and hope it’s helpful to someone. When ever you decide to buy something wait for 2 days before buying it. Except food and drink and medicine