Credit Card Lending Distress In Korea In 2003

This paper, which is based partly on Kang and Ma (2007), aims to uncover the causes of the crisis and draw relevant policy lessons from it, specifically the authority to shed light on three questions. First, why did competition in credit card lending, a line of business that is well established in many other countries, lead to excesses in Korea? Second, who were the main characters in the boom-bust cycle in the credit card industry? Third, what lessons can policymakers and market players learn from this episode? Answers to these questions will be valuable not only for Korea but also for other emerging markets.