Household loans extended by South Korean banks grew at a slower pace in December than a month earlier as households' balance sheets improved on the back of year-end bonuses and offset a rise in mortgage lending, the central bank said Wednesday. Outstanding household loans extended by local banks, including home-backed and credit loans, reached 480.4 trillion won (US$453 billion) as of end-December, up 2.9 trillion won from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).