Yoido Full Gospel Church Issues Apology Over Data Leak Affecting 850,000; Considers Police Investigation

[Anchor]

Following up on our exclusive reports yesterday (October 6) regarding suspected personal data leaks at two large churches, Yoido Full Gospel Church officially apologized today, stating that there are circumstances indicating the personal information of 850,000 church members has been leaked. Both churches are considering requesting a police investigation.

Reporter Hong Yeongjae has the details.

[Reporter]

This is the apology message sent by Yoido Full Gospel Church to its members today.

The church stated that it deeply apologizes for causing concern through this incident, despite its responsibility to safely manage and protect personal information.

Regarding the response timeline, the church explained that immediately after being notified by the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) yesterday afternoon about suspected personal information leaks, it launched emergency security checks and protective measures.

[Yang Jin-o / Director of Broadcasting, Yoido Full Gospel Church: It was confirmed that there are 7 cases of suspected data leakage. Among them, 6 cases did not contain personal information, and it was confirmed that some personal information was included in 1 case regarding member information modification history.]

As a result of the investigation, the church stated that data containing the names, dates of birth, and personal information modification history of approximately 850,000 members appears to have been leaked.

This includes around 2,600 resident registration number change records, 3,900 phone number change records, and 7,200 address change records.

With even the modification histories of sensitive information exposed, the church is individually notifying the affected members of the leak.

However, regarding the circumstances surrounding the leakage of donation records from 1993 to 2019, the church explained that the data consisted only of amounts and transaction details, and did not contain personal information such as names, resident registration numbers, or phone numbers.

Yoido Full Gospel Church has formally reported the security breach to the Korea Internet & Security Agency and is considering requesting a police investigation.

Sarang Church, which also faces circumstances involving the personal information leak of more than 89,000 members and employees, stated that it is reviewing whether to report the security breach and request an investigation.

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News)
(Camera Reporter: Kang Dong-chul | Video Editor: Yoon Tae-ho)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.