Hyundai Capital's assured handling

Back in 2003, the typical Korean worker was the proud owner of four credit cards. With pretty girls in miniskirts handing out applications on street corners and 7-Eleven stores, the country’s collective debt soon soared to $100 billion.

The boom in credit card issuance had been inspired by a simple idea give people enough credit and they will eventually have no choice but to spend it, which in turn will stimulate the economy. It was a simple idea that didn’t work. Instead, filling people’s pockets with debt only led to trouble, and eventually to Korea’s crippling credit card crisis.

Two years earlier, in October 2001, Hyundai...