Dear editor,
Regarding an April 16 editorial, ``Trap of Usury," I believe that the government has to strictly control the private loan market.
The government should heavily regulate the interest rates. Most people who use private loans are in poor circumstances, and they choose private moneylenders because they are unable to borrow money from banks and other financial firms.
Though they borrow the money to deal with their immediate problems, they are usually not capable of repaying the money back soon, and their total money borrowed from private lenders snowballs within the blink of an eye.
If the government can't make people stop borrowing money from the private market, it has to help people not ruin themselves or their families and end up bankrupt.
The government also has to reinforce the rule that regulates greedy loan sharks. Last November a 52-year-old man hung himself after killing his own daughter, and it was caused by leeches sucking blood from those in need.
If the government doesn't take action against relentless creditors threatening human dignity, we will have much more tragic shockwave-causing news. I believe we pay our taxes to be protected safely in the boundaries of a powerful law.
In addition, the government has to broaden the opportunities that make those with lower incomes and those with poor credit ratings obtain loans from a bank.
Few people can even knock on the door of a bank because many banks ask for a certain amount of collateral for their credit.
If the government has a budget made especially for those who have difficulties in getting loans from banks, people will not turn to loan sharks when they need to borrow money.
There is one more thing that the government should keep in mind: They have to help the borrower not only take out a loan easily, but also pay back their loan with less difficulty.
Like public rental apartments that the authorities have built to help low-income households reduce their financial burdens, there has to be a way for the borrowers to pay back their loans in long-term monthly installments.
Choi Soon-ju
Sanbon, Gyeonggi Province