⚠ Official CPI understates real pain. Dining out, education, and housing costs rise faster than headline CPI captures — actual cost-of-living burden for families is significantly higher.

⚠ Sustained won weakness risks a vicious cycle: foreign capital flight → stock market decline → pension fund losses. While exporters benefit from a cheap won, Korea's domestic-heavy economy means ordinary citizens bear the brunt through higher prices on everything.

⚠ If rates rise, families face a triple shock: surging interest payments, consumption collapse, and falling home prices. At this debt level, the central bank is trapped — raising rates crushes households, cutting rates fuels more borrowing.

⚠ Homeownership has become virtually impossible for young Koreans. Jeonse deposits have also skyrocketed, destroying the housing ladder. This is a key driver of Korea's record-low birth rate.

⚠ No good jobs + unaffordable housing + crushing education costs = young people not marrying or having children. Korea's fertility rate of 0.72 is the lowest in the OECD by far.

⚠ With an aging population and rock-bottom birth rate, welfare spending is ballooning. Rising national debt on top of this means future generations face higher taxes and fewer services. A credit downgrade would raise borrowing costs across the entire economy.