President Lee Jae-myung said on the 29th that the government has corrected an unreasonable lending policy long cited as a leading example of a "marriage penalty," after easing the income test for newlyweds applying for the Bogeumjari loan, a state-backed fixed-rate mortgage program.
Lee made the comment in a post on X, formerly Twitter, titled "Does marriage cost you? Not anymore." State policy should not make people see marriage as a disadvantage or become a barrier that makes them hesitate, he said. "We will find every unreasonable system and practice in people's daily lives, without exception, and keep fixing them," he said.
The Korea Housing Finance Corporation had earlier said it would revise the rules as a follow-up to the Aug. 13 housing measures, allowing newlyweds to use the Bogeumjari loan even if their combined income exceeds the ceiling, as long as one spouse earns 70 million won or less a year. The current combined-income ceiling for newlyweds is 85 million won with no children, 90 million won with one child and 100 million won with two or more.
Starting with new loan applications from Oct. 19, couples above those ceilings may apply if one spouse earns 70 million won or less a year. When the single-earner standard is applied, however, the debt-to-income ratio will be assessed based on that applicant's income and debt. The spouse's income and debt and the number of homes the couple owns will also be checked.
In a separate post on X the same day, Lee praised the Fair Trade Commission for uncovering abuses by franchisors against franchise owners. The commission caught franchisors that pursued private gain by inserting lending firms owned by the controlling family into transactions and that saddled prospective franchisees with high-interest loans without disclosing essential information such as interest rates, he wrote.
"Prospective franchisees decide to start a business trusting the franchisor, which holds the information advantage. Exploiting that relationship of trust to conceal special ties and take unfair profits cannot be tolerated," he said. "The foundation of franchising is transparent disclosure and fair trading order." He added that the commission should continue to thoroughly monitor illegal and unfair conduct by franchisors and do its utmost to ensure small business owners are not wronged.
