Delinquent Mortgage Loans in Insurance Sector Becoming More Severe and Long-Term... 55.8% Overdue for More Than 90 Days

A 6.5 Percentage Point Rise to 55.8% Over Four Years... ABL Life Insurance Records Highest Delinquency Rate

Park Sunghoon of the Opposition Party: "Authorities Must Examine Financial Soundness Gaps Among Insurers"

Approximately 55% of delinquent mortgage loans in the insurance sector are classified as long-term delinquencies, with payments overdue for more than 90 days. It has been pointed out that there are significant differences in delinquency rates between insurance companies, indicating the need for regulatory oversight by financial authorities.

The highest tax rate for capital gains tax on housing will increase to 75% starting from the 1st of next month. The taxable individuals for property tax and comprehensive real estate tax will also be finalized from that date. However, the property tax rate has not been finalized due to the legislative amendment process, and additional discussions are required for the comprehensive real estate tax rates. The photo shows an overview of apartments in the Gangnam area taken from the Sky Observatory at Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Photo by Dongjoo Yoon doso7@

According to recent five-year data on household loan soundness in the insurance sector submitted by Representative Park Sunghoon of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee, based on materials from the Financial Supervisory Service, as of the end of June, the outstanding balance of mortgage loans in the insurance sector stood at 52 trillion won, with a delinquency rate of 0.4%. The delinquency rate has consistently remained between 0.3% and 0.4% from the end of 2022 to the present.

As of the end of June, the total amount in delinquency was 192.1 billion won. The amount rose from 129 billion won at the end of 2022 to 210.5 billion won at the end of 2024, before decreasing again this year to the 100 billion won range.

The problem is that delinquencies are becoming more prolonged and the overall credit risk is worsening.

Of the total delinquent amount overdue by more than 30 days (192.1 billion won), 107.1 billion won—or 55.8%—was overdue by more than 90 days. This is a 6.5 percentage point increase from the 49.3% recorded at the end of 2022.

During the same period, the amount overdue for more than 90 days surged by 68.1%, rising from 63.7 billion won to 107.1 billion won.

There were also notable differences among insurance companies.

As of the end of June, the industry-wide delinquency rate was 0.4%, yet the mortgage delinquency rate at ABL Life Insurance reached 2.76%. DB Insurance followed at 2.67%, KDB Life Insurance at 2.33%, and Heungkuk Life Insurance at 2.25%, all surpassing the 2% level.

In particular, the delinquency rate for mortgage loans at DB Insurance jumped from 0.33% at the end of 2022 to 2.67% this year. During the same period, the amount of delinquency also soared from 3.4 billion won to 8.2 billion won.

Kyobo Life Insurance's delinquency rate also rose from 0.22% to 0.62%, and the amount in delinquency increased from 4.9 billion won to 11.6 billion won.

Representative Park stated, "On the surface, the delinquency rate in the insurance sector does not appear problematic, but as the proportion of loans in delinquency for over 90 days now exceeds 50%, borrowers’ credit quality is deteriorating over the long term," adding, "Financial authorities must not rely solely on aggregate indexes, but should closely examine the proportion of long-term delinquencies and differences in risk management among individual insurance companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.