When to review interest under Korean debtor protection rules
After a missed instalment, acceleration can make the entire outstanding loan immediately payable.
A bill that applies a default surcharge to the full balance may need review under Korea’s Individual Debtor Protection Act.
This worksheet compares the bill with the original repayment schedule and helps prepare a direct adjustment request to the creditor.
Borrowers, individual business owners and family members assisting with a notice should work through one account at a time.
Korea-based 2026 reference
The results use Korean rules verified on 2026-10-04 and amounts in KRW.
They help identify due versus not-yet-due principal, basic direct-request requirements and reference dates.
The next action is to ask the creditor for recalculation or submit the required documents; this page does not submit a request.
A comparison is not a legal decision, guaranteed refund or approval.
Two different strictly-below principal thresholds
The Act on the Management of Personal Financial Claims and Protection of Personal Financial Debtors first took effect on 2024-10-17.
Article 3 and Enforcement Decree Article 4 set different thresholds for interest protection and direct requests.
Verify that the creditor holds a covered personal financial claim, such as a financial-institution or registered-lender loan.
Private loans and ordinary civil delay damages cannot automatically use these rules.
Interest protection: below KRW 50,000,000
Check the account’s agreed principal amount, including its credit limit where relevant.
The agreement must have been made, renewed or extended on or after 2024-10-17 under original supplementary Article 2.
An unchanged agreement dated 2024-10-16 or earlier needs individual transitional review.
Request and notice: below KRW 30,000,000
Direct adjustment requests and Article 6 acceleration notices use the KRW 30 million threshold.
The request right also depends on delinquency arising after the Act took effect.
Exactly KRW 30,000,000 or KRW 50,000,000 does not meet its respective threshold.
The agreed amount used for thresholds is separate from the unpaid balance used for interest.
Repaying part of a larger loan does not automatically change the agreed threshold amount.
Check a credit-line limit, renewal documents and the creditor’s account-specific treatment if the agreement changed.
Ordinary interest remains on not-yet-due principal
Article 7 limits default interest on the portion that would not yet have matured under the original agreement without acceleration.
The Financial Services Commission illustrates ordinary interest plus surcharge on due principal, and ordinary interest alone on not-yet-due principal.
This is not automatic cancellation of all interest or forgiveness of principal.
Legal acceleration and the original instalment timetable must be assessed separately.
Segment formulas
- Full-balance scenario = balance × (contract rate + entered surcharge) × days / 365
- Protected estimate = balance × contract rate × days / 365 + due principal × permitted surcharge × days / 365
- Permitted surcharge = min(entered surcharge, 3% points, 20% − contract rate)
- Possible billed excess = max(bill for the same computed days − protected estimate, 0)
Use the agreement’s surcharge and check the annual 3 percentage point limit in interest-rate Notice Article 3 and the total 20% ceiling in the Lending Business Enforcement Decree.
A 19% contract rate with a 3-point surcharge uses a 1-point permitted surcharge in the protected calculation.
The full-balance scenario retains the entered rate, so its difference can include a rate-ceiling correction as well as principal protection.
Interest-free card instalments and single-payment card transactions require a creditor-confirmed substitute contract rate; the example’s 5% is not a product quote.
Gather the agreement, principal schedule and receipt evidence
Agreement and account statement
Verify the agreed principal, unpaid balance at the comparison start, ordinary rate, surcharge and latest agreement, renewal or extension date.
Check security and the current creditor’s identity.
A collector acting for the creditor may not own the claim or decide an adjustment request.
Original schedule and notice receipt
Enter each original due date and its unpaid principal only.
A monthly payment including interest overstates principal if entered unchanged.
Use actual receipt rather than the creditor’s sending date, and keep delivery tracking or electronic receipt evidence.
Unpaid instalment principal must add up to the entered balance.
Rows with the same date are combined during calculation; already-paid principal is excluded.
The example places KRW 27 million at a later maturity date and does not substitute for a real amortising loan’s monthly schedule.
Obtain the lender’s principal breakdown before relying on a comparison.
Step-by-step use and comparison dates
- Verify the covered claim, creditor and account-level agreed amount, then confirm scope.
- Enter the ordinary rate, surcharge, delinquency start, scheduled acceleration and notice receipt.
- Set a start-included, end-excluded interval and enter all original unpaid principal instalments.
- Confirm that no repayment, new borrowing or rate change occurred; otherwise split calculations at that event.
- Enter request restrictions, receipt, holidays and correction or expert-opinion periods.
- Save the assumptions and segment table as TXT or print them to request review from the creditor.
An instalment enters the surcharge base on the day after its original due date.
The calculation begins at the later of the comparison start and reference acceleration, and reports omitted pre-acceleration days.
Ask for a matching bill if the statement includes interest for those omitted days.
A renewal within the interval requires separate pre- and post-renewal calculations rather than one confirmed result.
Worked 60-day example: KRW 133,150 difference
Assume a 2025 renewal with agreed principal and balance both KRW 28,000,000.
Originally due principal is KRW 1,000,000; the other KRW 27,000,000 matures after the interval.
The contract rate is 5%, the surcharge is 3 percentage points, and 60 days follow acceleration with no repayment or rate change.
Full-balance and protected interest in the fictional 60-day loan example| Item | Basis | Rounded KRW |
|---|
| Full-balance scenario | 28,000,000 × 8% × 60 / 365 | 368,219 |
| Protected estimate | Daily total of 28,000,000 × 5% + 1,000,000 × 3% | 235,069 |
| Displayed difference | Subtract separately rounded final totals | 133,150 |
Directly rounding 27,000,000 × 3% × 60 / 365 instead gives KRW 133,151.
The protected amount adds separately rounded ordinary interest and surcharge; the scenario rounds its full total before subtraction.
If the verified bill for the same computed days is KRW 368,219, the possible excess is KRW 133,150; an unentered bill leaves this result pending.
Confirm the creditor’s fractions-of-won and leap-year treatment before any settlement.
If another instalment matures during the interval
If an additional KRW 9,000,000 becomes overdue for the last 30 days, the surcharge base is KRW 1,000,000 for the first 30 days and KRW 10,000,000 for the last 30.
Keeping the initial due principal fixed understates the protected estimate.
Review the principal movement and day count in each segment.
Late notice and business-day verification
Article 6 requires notice at least 10 business days before scheduled acceleration for covered claims.
If it did not arrive by that point, acceleration is referenced to 10 business days after receipt.
This notice rule uses the below-KRW-30-million threshold: interest protection on a KRW 40 million account does not itself trigger automatic notice-date adjustment.
Alternative publication, missing receipt or enforcement by another creditor requires individual review.
Weekend exclusion alone does not establish a deadline
The calculator counts from the day after receipt.
Only weekends are excluded automatically; add public holidays, temporary holidays and the creditor’s closures yourself.
Without calendar confirmation, displayed dates remain provisional and interest applicability depending on notice is pending.
A closure falling on a weekend is not counted twice.
Direct request requirements and possible refusal
Article 35 lets covered delinquent borrowers request a change in debt terms directly from the creditor.
Original supplementary Article 8 ties the request right to delinquency arising after the Act took effect, separately from the agreement-date test for interest protection.
This differs from a Credit Counseling and Recovery Service (CCRS) agreement or court rehabilitation.
Basic eligibility does not guarantee principal reduction, a lower rate or acceptance.
- Review pending disputes over claim existence or scope, CCRS proceedings or effective agreements, and court rehabilitation or bankruptcy proceedings or effective plans.
- Enforcement Decree Article 29 restricts another request within 3 months of cancellation of a direct adjustment agreement.
- Three ignored correction requests, repeat applications without a significant repayment-capacity change, or an expired limitation period can support refusal under Article 36 and Decree Article 30.
- Seek professional review before acknowledging or paying a potentially time-barred claim.
Prepare the request, repayment-capacity evidence and personal/credit-information consent, and verify the creditor’s submission channel.
Article 35(2) permits omission of a proposed adjustment plan when preparing it is difficult.
If refused, ask for the reason and information on court or CCRS alternatives.
Track replies, suspension and collection contacts
Reply: normally within 10 business days
Article 37(3) establishes the notification period, excluding document-correction time under Article 37(4).
Expert materials or opinions can exclude up to 10 additional business days under Decree Article 31(3).
Entered exclusion ranges include both endpoints; overlapping dates are excluded once.
Verify actual receipt and the legal basis for each exclusion with the creditor.
Timely requests and unsecured-claim suspension
Under Article 6(5), a valid timely request can suspend acceleration of an eligible unsecured claim until the procedure ends.
For timely notice, request by the day before scheduled acceleration; for late notice, the reference cutoff is the 10th business day after receipt.
Article 3(1) excludes this suspension for specified secured claims, and enforcement by another creditor can create an exception.
Seven contacts per rolling seven days, per claim
Article 16 combines all collectors contacting the debtor about the same claim.
Decree Article 15 excludes mandatory notices and same-day responses to requested explanations.
Limited exclusions include 2 failed contacts per 7 days, 2 interrupted calls per day, and 1 debt-information notice without a payment demand per day.
Enter the legally counted total after these exclusions, not every call log entry.
Collection is generally restricted while a valid request is pending, with an exception for at least 2 requests on the same debt.
Practical scenarios and limitations
After receiving notice, gather the agreement, schedule and receipt evidence and check the available request window.
After a full-balance interest bill, ask for the matching post-acceleration breakdown and compare its rate and principal base with the segment table.
Run different accounts separately and seek advice about CCRS or court procedures for multiple debts.
Personal checklist ticks do not establish submission: keep the receipt number and responsible department.
One fixed-balance interval
This model uses simple interest / 365 days, separately sums and rounds ordinary interest and surcharge to whole KRW, then adds them.
It excludes recovery costs, fees, compound interest, variable rates and repayments within the interval.
A contract’s 366-day leap-year basis or truncation of won fractions can produce differences.
Neither a hypothetical difference nor a possible billed excess establishes a violation or repayment claim.
Guarantees, debt assumption, discounted bills, alternative publication and case-specific exceptions require creditor and professional review.
Frequently asked questions
Does exactly KRW 30 million qualify for the request right?
The agreed amount must be strictly below KRW 30 million.
At exactly that amount, ask about voluntary creditor support or other CCRS options.
Does repaying the balance down to KRW 20 million qualify?
Interest uses the balance, while thresholds use the verified account-level agreed principal or limit.
A reduced balance does not automatically change the agreement amount.
Can I use a loan from before 2024?
Interest protection checks post-effective-date agreements, renewals or extensions.
Request eligibility separately checks post-effective-date delinquency, so the two outcomes can differ.
Is all interest removed on not-yet-due principal?
The default surcharge is restricted, while ordinary contract interest can remain.
This is not automatic principal forgiveness or cancellation of all interest.
Will the request be approved after 10 business days?
This is a notification period, not guaranteed approval.
Correction time and up to 10 business days for expert materials or opinions may be excluded.
Do eight calls automatically establish a violation?
Review legal exemptions and combine all collectors for the same claim.
Eight legally counted contacts produce a reference excess of one; keep evidence for creditor or regulator review.
What if I never received the notice?
Without receipt evidence, or with alternative publication, this tool cannot determine acceleration.
Verify scope, notice method, receipt and the creditor’s claimed date.
Can I send the worksheet to the creditor?
TXT and printed output are reference material explaining assumptions and segments.
Attach the agreement, statement and bill, and separately verify the creditor’s form and receipt.
Official sources and update dates
Verified on 2026-10-04 using the National Law Information OPEN API.
The current Act is MST 277235, effective 2026-01-02; its Decree is MST 278137, effective 2025-10-01.
Supervisory Notice 2026-27, serial 2100000279210, is effective 2026-07-08.
Interest-rate Notice 2100000179356 is effective 2019-06-25, and Lending Business Decree MST 290377 is effective 2026-10-02.
These current consolidation dates differ from the original 2024-10-17 commencement and its transitional provisions.
Recheck amendments, threshold principal treatment and creditor business calendars before future use.