Yongdae Kim, an attorney at Hanbyol Law LLC, has filed numerous lawsuits against Evergreen, challenging its debtor rights and collection practices. Kim characterizes Evergreen as a "purely for-profit private company" and says its collection practices are among the most aggressive in the country, even compared to payday lenders. "If you're really old or don't have any money, they can work with you, but basically, it's hard to work with them until you're dead," he said.

Mr. Kim's legal response exposed the structural problem that the 'consent of all employees' stipulation in the articles of association of Evergreen and the shareholder structure of banks and credit card companies block policy debt transfers such as the New Development Fund. He criticized the fact that financial companies receive dividends but are inactive in debt restructuring, and called for the need to write off long-term overdue debts as a practical matter, such as extending the statute of limitations, and for active intervention and system improvement by supervisory authorities.