Yoido Full Gospel Church Issues Apology Over Suspected Leak of 850,000 Personal Records, Considers Police Investigation

[Anchor]

We continue with our follow-up reporting on the suspected personal information leaks at two large churches, which we exclusively reported yesterday (October 6). Today, the Yoido Full Gospel Church officially apologized, stating 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 statement sent by the Yoido Full Gospel Church to its members today.

The church stated that although it has a responsibility to safely manage and protect personal information, it sincerely apologizes for causing concern through this incident.

Regarding the response process, the church explained that immediately after being notified by the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) yesterday afternoon of suspected personal information leakage, it initiated emergency security inspections and protective measures.

[Yang Jin-oh / Director of Broadcasting, Yoido Full Gospel Church: It was confirmed that there are 7 data files suspected of being leaked. Among them, we verified that 6 files did not contain personal information, while 1 file containing member information change history did include some personal information.]

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

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

Even change histories of sensitive information were exposed as they were, and the church is individually notifying affected members of the leak.

However, regarding the circumstances surrounding the leak of donation histories from 1993 to 2019, the church explained that the data consisted solely of amounts and transaction histories, and did not include personal information such as names, resident registration numbers, or phone numbers.

The 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: Yonhap News)
Reported by Kang Dong-chul | Video Editing by Yoon Tae-ho
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.