On the TV, a debate was underway about the card crisis that everyone had been talking about lately.

—If things continue like this, every card company could go down together.

—Go down together? Isn't that far too much of a stretch?

—A stretch? This card crisis could bring the entire Korean economy crashing down all at once.

—That's… going a bit too far ahead of ourselves, isn't it?

—It's still vivid in my memory how, just a few months after they told us there was nothing to worry about, we plunged into the IMF regime. This time too, the government says everything is fine, but from where we stand, that isn't the case. This time as well, the market could be rocked by a shock like the one during the IMF crisis.

—Are you saying our country is going to fall into the IMF's hands again? The current government is different from the one back then. It is not incompetent.

As the exchange grew more and more heated, the moderator hastily stepped in.

—The atmosphere is getting far too intense right now. I think we need to calm down a little. From here on, I'd ask each of you to speak only after I've given you the floor.

Once the moderator had set the order of speaking, the professor was the first to raise his hand and request the floor.

The government official wore a look of regret at being a touch too slow, and the moderator extended a hand toward the professor and said:

—Yes. Then let's begin with you, Professor Seong.

—I believe the current card crisis is not a matter to be viewed simply.

—Why is that?

When the moderator posed the question, the professor continued his remarks in the form of an answer.

—The delinquency rate currently known to us has surpassed 20 percent.

—Wasn't it 15 percent just a month or two ago?

—Yes. It has already climbed past 20 percent. And this trend will keep going.

—If it keeps going, how high do you expect it to rise?

—Based on the trend our research…