Many small business owners in South Korea recognise themselves in the cash-strapped characters of the wildly popular Netflix drama 'Squid Game', who vie desperately for a chance to win US$38 million, exposing a debt trap that is all too familiar.

Nearing retirement at 58, Yu Hee-sook paid off her debts long ago, but still gets calls from collection agencies threatening to seize her bank accounts, as the loans got securitised and sold to investors without her knowledge...