"My husband secretly invested 60 million won despite 500 million won debt and lost it... Is divorce the answer?"

Despite Wife's Opposition, Secretly Borrowed 60 Million Won for Real Estate, Stocks, and Coins, Failed Investment Again

A story has been shared about a woman contemplating divorce from her husband, who repeatedly makes reckless investments despite being in debt worth hundreds of millions of won.

Recently, a post titled "My husband secretly invested again, is divorce the answer?" was uploaded on an online community.

A post was made about a husband secretly accumulating debt through reckless investments, leading to thoughts of divorce. Unrelated stock photo.
[Photo by Asia Economy DB]

The author, Ms. A, is in her mid-30s and married to Mr. B, with one daughter. Mr. B found employment late, and since they had no savings due to repaying student loans, they started their married life with 50 million won saved by Ms. A.

After their child was born, Mr. B developed an interest in real estate and cryptocurrencies. Despite his wife's opposition to his taking out loans for reckless investments, Mr. B won a housing subscription and moved into a newly built apartment.

The couple currently has about 500 million won in debt, which was partly used to buy a house and car through loans, but some of the debt resulted from Mr. B's failed investments.

Ms. A stated, "When my husband was getting the apartment, he also bought an officetel but sold it without profit, receiving a deposit of 40 million won. He secretly invested that money in cryptocurrency and lost it all within a week."

She continued, "Because of that incident, I informed my in-laws about the situation and told my husband that if this happened again, I would divorce him. He works for a public enterprise and promised to show me his overdraft account status every month. He diligently showed it for the first few months but gradually became reluctant and stopped showing it properly."

Ms. A currently earns 3.3 million won from dual incomes, but after paying loan interest, saving money is impossible. She explained that they planned to live in their current home for two years to fulfill the residency requirement before moving because they could not handle the loan amount.

Meanwhile, on the 22nd, Ms. A received a lengthy handwritten letter from her husband. It revealed that he secretly took out a 60 million won loan to invest in stocks and cryptocurrencies and lost it all.

Ms. A said, "He informed me of the situation, promised that such incidents would never happen again, and opened all account statements, bankbooks, and financial information to me so I would receive immediate notifications. He also gave me an agreement stating that if such an incident occurs again, I could proceed with a consensual divorce or any other decision I wish. He said that he, I, my sister, and his sister-in-law would all stamp the agreement. Does this have any legal effect?"

She added, "He said he would stop thinking about anything else, work diligently, earn money, and apologize, but I don't know if I should give him another chance. I've already forgiven him several times after losing trust, but isn't it just going to lead to bigger problems? He is a sincere husband who treats me well, but this is so frustrating. I don't know what the best choice for me is."

Most netizens who read the story advised ending the marriage. One netizen commented, "The meaning of the letter from the husband is, 'I alone made a 60 million won debt, but you will pay it off with me, right? Still, I have reflected a lot. I'm this sorry, so forgive me and let's pay off the debt together.' I recommend divorce."

Another netizen said, "A marital agreement is only useful as evidence. If it were me, I would proceed with divorce. He causes the problems, and someone else cleans up after him, so these situations keep happening. Reckless investments are like gambling. They won't change. If you quietly let this go again, he will touch stocks or other things again," showing a firm stance.