South Koreans filing for a personal bailout program rose nearly 10 percent during the first half of 2014, data showed Monday, as local household debt shot up to its highest level since late last year.

The number of people seeking a bailout went up 9.9 percent on-year to 57,069 during the January-June period, according to industry sources and court records. On an annual basis, the figure has been on the rise since 2010.

The government’s personal bailout program is designed to provide people some leeway on overdue interest on loans and have their debts written off if they fulfill debt obligations for five years. People who have a stable source of income or assets but are hard pressed to pay their debts, mostly apply for this rescue program.

The uptrend of applicants comes as South Korea’s household credit touched a fresh high of 1,024.8 trillion won ($992.4 billion) at end-March, shortly after topping the 1,000 trillion won mark late last year, according to central bank data. (Yonhap)