General Rehabilitation vs Personal Rehabilitation: Eligibility, Procedure and Cost

General rehabilitation (ilban hoesaeng) is not a separate name in the law; it is the term used in practice for a rehabilitation procedure filed by an individual rather than a corporation. Many people ask about it after first hearing the term in an insolvency consultation, but it is not as widely used as personal rehabilitation (gaein hoesaeng), and it is a procedure attorneys are very careful about recommending. We have summarized who needs general rehabilitation and how it differs from personal rehabilitation in terms of eligibility, procedure and cost.

What kind of procedure is general rehabilitation?

Anyone who handles insolvency cases knows that general rehabilitation is not easy even at the consultation stage, and there are not many actual applicants. This is because its eligibility and requirements are clearly narrowed.

In practice, rehabilitation procedures are conveniently divided into three: corporate rehabilitation, general rehabilitation for individuals, and personal rehabilitation. Although it is a procedure for individuals, general rehabilitation is much closer to corporate rehabilitation in structure and procedure.

Who is general rehabilitation for?

General rehabilitation is usually used by individuals with very large debts. If secured debt is KRW 1.5 billion or more, or unsecured debt is KRW 1 billion or more, so that the personal rehabilitation limits are exceeded, general rehabilitation is considered.

It is mainly filed by people such as the following.

• Doctors whose loans grew large while opening or expanding a clinic
• Professionals whose debts piled up after a joint investment or partnership went wrong
• Rental business operators and self-employed people carrying debts related to multiple presale rights or a rental business

Side by side with personal rehabilitation

Creditor consent is essential

Personal rehabilitation can proceed even if creditors do not consent, but creditor consent is mandatory in general rehabilitation. Because the debts are large, creditors find it hard to accept a repayment rate set too low, and the intertwined legal relationships are far more complex.

The repayment period is longer and the method differs

Personal rehabilitation is usually repaid over three to five years, but general rehabilitation typically sets a 10-year repayment plan. In many cases repayment is made not monthly but once a year or at an interval agreed with creditors. The structure has in mind people whose income fluctuates widely, such as business owners and professionals.

The procedure is long and costly

General rehabilitation is not a procedure that ends once you submit documents. It roughly goes through the following process.

1. Comprehensive prohibition order and preservation order
2. Examination of the debtor
3. Payment of an advance deposit in the tens of millions of won
4. Appointment of an accountant as the examiner
5. Appraisal
6. Preparation of the examiner's report and the administrator's report
7. Drafting the rehabilitation plan and negotiating with creditors
8. Meeting of interested parties
9. Management after the confirmation decision and closing

In most cases the procedure alone takes more than a year, and accounting, financial and legal responses are all required. For this reason, fees for general rehabilitation are often set in the tens of millions of won depending on the size of the debt.

Once confirmed, the claims become final

General rehabilitation has one notable feature: the claims become final the moment the confirmation decision is made.

For example, suppose total debt is KRW 1 billion and a repayment rate of 30% is applied, so that KRW 300 million is to be repaid over 10 years. Even if you repay only part and stop midway, the original principal of KRW 1 billion does not revive, and liability remains only within the finalized KRW 300 million. This is a major difference from personal rehabilitation.

Is general rehabilitation worth recommending?

To give the conclusion first, it is not a system to recommend to everyone. It is realistically difficult for an individual to keep up repayments for 10 years, and the procedure, cost and management burden are also heavy.

Some professionals choose general rehabilitation because of the misconception that bankruptcy means losing their license. Today, some professionals, including doctors, do not immediately lose their qualifications just because they have gone bankrupt. So you should weigh the following two points first before choosing.

• Whether you are in a situation where you must keep your business or position
• Whether general rehabilitation offers a real benefit compared with personal rehabilitation or bankruptcy

General rehabilitation is one of the options that can be considered when debts are very large, legal relationships are complex and there is room to negotiate with creditors.

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Last reviewed: 2026-10-19 This article provides general legal information; specific advice is given through consultation.