South Korea’s household debt rose to a record Won1,200tn ($973bn) at the end of last year, worsening one of the country’s biggest vulnerabilities even as the government strives to put the national mortgage stock on a more stable basis, the Financial Times reported. The country’s household debt stands at more than 160 per cent of household incomes, having risen steadily for more than three decades, and is seen as one of the economy’s weakest points.

South Korea’s Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction (HHIC) is seeking a debt restructuring with its creditors and is expecting to post its sixth consecutive year of losses in 2015, reports said. In a regulatory filing to the stock exchange, HHIC said it faces a temporary liquidity shortage and seeks to restructure its debts with creditors under a voluntary agreement. Local media reports mentioned that HHIC is requesting its major creditor Korea Development Bank (KDB) to approve the debt restructuring plan, allowing the yard to then delay debt repayments and obtain extra funding.

Korea Asset Management Corp (KAMCO) anticipates it will continue to buy up plenty of ships from locally distressed lines next year, Splash24/7 reported. As of the end of October, the state-run debt restructuring company had purchased 35 vessels from shipping firms, including Hanjin Shipping and Hyundai Merchant Marine, for KRW505.5bn ($434m) since the 2008 financial crisis. KAMCO anticipates at least KRW100bn in ships outlay next year – all of which will be chartered back. Korean shipping lines have been among the hardest hit in the downturn.

Korean Company Sambo Motors Co. Ltd has taken control of German tuning company Carlsson, GTSpirit.com reported. The Korean company has promised further investment for the Saarland Merzig company and has sought to reassure Carlsson’s employees that their jobs are secure. Sambo was one of four bidders to made a binding offer during the insolvency process. Carlsson entered into liquidation in April this year following a poor year of sales.

Policy makers in Seoul are accelerating efforts to restructure debt-laden and unprofitable companies before an anticipated rise in U.S. interest rates and any further slowdown in China reverberates in South Korea, Bloomberg News reported. Falling exports and huge losses among some of Korea’s corporate giants have injected urgency into efforts to sell poorly performing assets and raise competitiveness. Overseas shipments have dropped every month this year, with notable weakness in sales to China.

The government has been preparing to preemptively restructure insolvent companies ahead of the anticipated interest rate hike by the U.S. central bank, and a new study showed that nearly 6 percent of Korean companies could need it, Korea JoongAng Daily reported. According to a report by private corporate analysis agency Korea CXO Institute, 117 of Korea’s 2,000 companies, excluding financial firms, have debt-to-asset ratios of over 200 percent and are also suffering from operating and net losses as of last year.

South Korea's financial watchdog said Wednesday that it has picked 175 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to be placed under debt restructuring this year as part of government-led efforts to sort out highly indebted firms and prevent their sudden collapse, Yonhap News Agency reported. The number of debt-heavy firms selected for 2015 rose by 50 to 175 this year from a year earlier, with 70 of them given a rating of "C" and the remaining 105 graded a "D," according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

The chief financial regulator said Wednesday that he will help creditors speed up restructuring of steel, petrochemical and shipping companies struggling to stay afloat after being hit hard by low demand in global markets, The Korea Times reported. Financial Services Commission Chairman Yim Jong-yong said he will support companies with potential to recover by injecting fresh money while kicking out corporations which are not sustainable. "We will discuss with other government agencies ways to strengthen competitiveness in the fields and directions for restructuring.

South Korea plans to open a government-led corporate restructuring market to speed up the liquidation of "zombie" companies and resuscitate marginal firms suffering a "temporary" financial stress, Xinhua reported. "Corporate restructuring led only by creditor banks faced limitations. It needs to encourage various market players to join it, and market-centered restructuring is preferred," Lee Myung Soon, director general of Financial Services Commission's financial and corporate restructuring policy bureau, told foreign correspondents in Seoul Friday.

South Korean exports in August plunged 14.7% from a year ago, Business Insider reported. This was much worse than the 5.9% decline expected by economists. And it was the biggest drop since August 2009. This is a troubling sign, as Korea's exports represent the world's imports.