Student Loan Delinquency Rate Reaches 19.4%, Arrears Top 80 Billion Won

The headline refers to new data from South Korea’s Income-Contingent Loan (ICL) program showing record student-loan stress among young borrowers.

What the numbers mean

• The 19.4% figure is the cumulative delinquency rate by amount for 2025 ICL repayments, meaning nearly one-fifth of all required repayments on these loans were not made on time.

• By headcount, 18.0% of borrowers who were supposed to repay under the ICL system were in delinquency, so roughly 1 in 5 eligible young borrowers is behind.

• Out of 319,648 people required to repay last year, 57,580 fell into arrears.

• In money terms, 419.8 billion KRW was due, 338.5 billion KRW was actually repaid, and 81.3 billion KRW remained unpaid, the first time student-loan arrears in this program have exceeded 80 billion KRW.

• The average arrears per delinquent borrower reached about 1.41 million KRW, also a record high.

Why this is happening

• ICL borrowers are only required to repay if their income exceeds a threshold (about 17.52 million KRW annual income in the 2024 tax year), yet delinquency is rising even among this group, implying income is still insufficient relative to repayment burdens.

• The number and amount of deferred repayments (often due to unemployment, business closure, or parental leave) has also more than doubled between 2020 and 2024, suggesting a weak youth labor market and unstable early‑career earnings.

• As of 2024, combining both delinquencies and deferrals, 68,768 people had either fallen behind or formally postponed payments, with total affected balances around 98.2 billion KRW.

How this fits into broader trends

• The delinquency rate has been climbing for years: by person it rose from 7.4% in 2016 to 12.1% in 2019 and 18% in the latest data; by amount it increased from 7.3% to just under 20% (19.4%).

• This mirrors a broader pattern of rising student-loan distress internationally, where serious delinquency and defaults have also climbed after pandemic-era relief ended, though the specific numbers and policy context differ by country.