Loans extended by insurance firms in South Korea dropped in the first half of the year amid a slight rise in their loan default rate, data showed Monday. Outstanding loans extended by insurance companies here came to 266.4 trillion won (US$200.4 billion), down 6.8 trillion won from six months earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. From a year earlier, the reading marks a 6.9 trillion-won fall. Household loans stood at 133.6 trillion won as of end-June, down 1.4 trillion won from six months earlier, while loans extended to businesses dipped 5.4 trillion won to 132.7 trillion won over the cited period. The loan delinquency rate, which measures the proportion of loan principal or interest unpaid for at least a month, came to 0.55 percent, up 0.13 percentage point from six months earlier, the data showed. The rate for household loans stood at 0.62 percent as of end-June, up 0.1 percentage point from 0.52 percent tallied at end-December. The rate for businesses came to 0.51 p ercent, up 0.14 percentage point over the cited period. Source: Yonhap News Agency