A view of the Bank of Korea headquarter building in Seoul, South Korea, 15 June 2026. Photo by JEON HEON-KYUN / EPA
June 26 (Asia Today) -- South Korean banks are restricting mortgages and personal loans months earlier than usual as rapid household debt growth threatens to exhaust their annual lending quotas.
The country's five largest commercial banks - KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup - recorded household loan growth through May that exceeded targets agreed upon with financial regulators, according to banking industry data released Friday.
Their combined household loan balance increased from 767.296 trillion won ($496.4 billion) at the end of April to 770.823 trillion won ($498.7 billion) at the end of May.
The one-month increase was 3.527 trillion won ($2.3 billion).
