South Korean households have amassed a significant amount of household debt. The ROK government is adept at hiding its liabilities in off-balance sheets via public entities like KEPCO, which have quasi-government guarantees but whose liabilities government debt-to-GDP calculations don’t include. 

However, households have nowhere to hide much of the money they borrow. Although household debt is a problem across the OECD, it is particularly acute in South Korea. A Korea Pro analysis indicates:

• South Korea’s debt situation is generally stable, with the government in a healthy position relative to most other developed countries and corporations still not overleveraged.
• But household