Credit Counseling & Recovery Service and Korea Inclusive Finance Agency Expand Integrated Counseling to Include Healthcare, Retirement, and Small Business Support

The Credit Counseling & Recovery Service and Korea Inclusive Finance Agency are expanding the scope of integrated counseling support for low-income and vulnerable groups to include public healthcare, retirement preparation, and small business recovery assistance. The purpose is to diagnose complex challenges such as health issues, anxiety about old age, and business failures, in addition to financial problems, through a single counseling session and link individuals to the relevant support organizations.

On October 1, the Credit Counseling & Recovery Service and Korea Inclusive Finance Agency announced that they are expanding the fields covered by their integrated support connections, allowing clients to receive guidance on healthcare, retirement preparedness, and small business recovery support through one counseling session. This reorganization reflects that a significant portion of users facing economic difficulties struggle not only with financial issues but also with health concerns, anxiety about old age, and business failures, often simultaneously. Recognizing that simple financial assistance alone is not sufficient to resolve the underlying causes of economic hardship, the agencies decided to strengthen their system for connecting users to support across all aspects of life.

To this end, the Credit Counseling & Recovery Service and Korea Inclusive Finance Agency are collaborating with the National Medical Center, National Cancer Center, National Pension Service, Small Enterprise and Market Service, and Korea Asset Management Corporation to provide tailored, cross-organizational services to users at each institution’s counseling centers.

In the field of public healthcare, support will be connected to medical services provided by the National Medical Center and National Cancer Center. For retirement preparation, users can receive diagnostic services and professional financial counseling from the National Pension Service.

Support for small business owners experiencing hardship due to business failure will also be enhanced. The agencies plan to connect debt adjustment services like the ‘Hope Return Package,’ a recovery support program for vulnerable small business owners operated by the Small Enterprise and Market Service and the Korea Asset Management Corporation, as well as the ‘New Start Fund.’ The integrated support service is a system that enables low-income and vulnerable groups to consult about diverse challenges in finance, employment, and welfare in one location and then connects them to the necessary support organizations. Since its implementation in 2024, the program had connected approximately 130,000 people to various support schemes for economic self-reliance as of the end of last year.

Eunkyung Kim, Chairperson of the Credit Counseling & Recovery Service and Korea Inclusive Finance Agency, said, “For vulnerable groups, financial problems often do not end as stand-alone issues,” adding, “We will continue to strengthen collaboration with various institutions and further refine the integrated support system so that users can receive the help they need.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.