Korea may add bankruptcy court as pandemic debt suspension ends in Sept

The South Korean bankruptcy court is bracing up for a surge in bankruptcies as Covid-19 relief on debt payment would end in September.

The Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy Committee of the Supreme Court on Tuesday will hold a meeting to deliberate adding reorganization court on expectations for a rise in bankruptcy cases.

The government enabled rollovers in debt obligations of small and mid-sized companies as well as small business owners four times since April 2020.

The principal of debt from debt and interest repayment extensions reached 133.8 trillion won ($104.2 billion) as of January last year.

The reprieve has helped minimize the economic damage from Covid-19, according to court data. The number of individual rehabilitation and bankruptcy applications fell from 138,229 in 2019 to 136,932 in 2020 despite the pandemic.

The committee will deliberate adding a bankruptcy and rehabilitation court. There is only one bankruptcy court in Seoul.

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