DOKDO NEWS AGENCY

A 28-year-old man was found dead in his room at a small apartment block in Seoul yesterday. Neighbors called the police after they found him lying on the floor with his nose and mouth duct-taped, and his hands tied behind his back. The room was locked from the inside, and there were no signs of a break-in, according to police.

They found no suicide note, and there were no signs of beating or any other indication of murder. The man was at home alone and apparently died while neighbors were doing other things with witnesses. They told police that the man, who they believed was called Kim, had an introverted personality and often played his music loudly late at night, but other than that he didn’t seem to have major problems.

Police say that preliminary investigations suggest the man died of asphyxiation, and it may be a case of fan death as they also found an electric fan in the room with him.

Kookmin Bank (KB), Korea’s largest lender, is being investigated by police after staff allegedly falsified customers’ loan agreements by filing off the due dates on paperwork with a sharp object and writing an earlier one in its place before asking the customer to pay back the loan on the new date, which is classed as forgery and is therefore a criminal offense.

KB confirmed that some of its employees had tampered with loan contracts, but stressed it had nothing to do with the lender itself, and that it didn’t know it was happening. Once it did find out, it immediately allowed one of the employees to resign and then re-employed them as a contract worker although the bank claimed this was also nothing to do with them. Other staff allegedly involved in the criminal activity were reassigned to other posts, although the bank said this was also nothing to do with them.

If the allegations are found to be true, KB says it will be nothing to do with them.

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Police investigate Kookmin Bank for document falsification